Patron Series
by LauraLynn
Summary: *CHAPTER 14 UP* The continuation of Patron!!!!!!!! BOY is it gettin big!!! R/R
1. Patron1

Patron  
  
This is a collaboration story I did Chroias! Yeah, my fist collaboration!! I hope there are more to come 'cause it was fun! She started it, so she gets most of the credit!  
  
Disclaimer: alright big disclaimer here: Mozenrath and Xerxes © to Disney. Chroias is © to Kalynn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are MINE! Chapter 1 (by kalynn)  
  
(The story opens up with Mozenrath stomping up and down the Citadel halls. He seems impatient and he taps his foot) Mozenrath: Where is she? Xerxes: Maybe she have prior engagement. Mozenrath: I am not being stood up! (tries to strangle Xerxes) Chroias: Mozie you promised to be nice to him. (Mozenrath looks up and sees a tall demon standing above him. She has pure white skin and dark emerald green hair. Her 5-foot tail is twitching slowly back and forth.) Mozenrath: Chroias. (starts to smile and thinks better of it) Where have you been? Chroias: Well excuse me for being a tad late. I never complained when you were late. In more than one area! Mozenrath: (blushes) Never mind. Well why were you late? Chroias: My father Hades. He wanted me to totally reorganize the torture scale for the lawyer section of Tarturus. Do you have any idea how many lawyers are down there? Mozenrath: (puts his arm about her waist) Don't worry I forgive you. Chroias: Oh you forgive me huh?! (pulls one of his stray hairs) Mozenrath: I know I'm too generous for me own good. (He begins to pull her in for a kiss. But Chroias giggles and pushes him away.) Chroias: NOnonono. You aren't getting any that easily. Mozenrath: Oh I'm not am I? Chroias: Of course not. You think you'd be dating me if I made it easy for you. Mozenrath: I'd thank you not to say were dating quite so loudly. I have certain ears about I'd rather not have hearing that. Chroias: You mean Nefret? Mozenrath: If you must know, yes Nefret. And if I have anything to say she never will know were dating. Chroias: Well why not? I want to meet her. (red eyes begin to glow) Mozie you wouldn't be sneaking around behind my back now would you? (pulls a whip out of thin air and cracks it experimentally) Mozenrath: (looking slightly nervous) NO no. Now Chroias. Would I do that to you? Chroias: HELL AND BELL YES YOU LITTLE CHARMER!! Mozenrath: (smiling) Probably. But ya see things aren't like that between Nefret and me. Chroias: Really? (she pulls Mozenrath close) Mozenrath: Of course not. (he kisses her lips lightly) Chroias: (pulling him closer as she speaks) Well then you wouldn't....mind....if...I... went to see her now. (pushes Mozenrath away) (Mozenrath lands on a heap on the floor) Mozenrath: WAIT CHROIAS NO!!! (He's to late as Chroias walks out the door, a determined look on her face.) Mozenrath: As if my problems weren't enough already. Chapter 2 (by Me, Laura)  
  
Nefret twirled around and slapped the cistrem against her hip, it produced a pleasing rattling sound that blended musically with the rhythm of her feet on the throne room floor. The beat was broken as the door was pushed open a little to hard and banged against the wall. Nefret rolled her eyes, 'why is Moze in a mood now?' she asked herself. She smiled again and shook the cistrem rapidly before spinning around to the source of the disturbance talking in a singsong voice as she did. "Hey Moze, want to watch my new danc..." Her voice faded away and her face faulted. She had expected to see her lord in the doorway in one of his many foul moods, but instead a woman meet her eye. But no normal woman, a demoness. Nefret's hand went to the high slit in her skirt. Her fingers grazed her father's dagger that she had taken to keeping strapped to her thigh. Mozenrath soon appeared behind the woman and gave his henchwoman a nervous look and shook his head. Nefret's grimaced as she thought for a moment, but let her hand drop away from the weapon and waited for someone to explain what the hell was going on. The demoness approached Nefret with a grin that made the young Egyptian woman uneasy; she stopped at an uncomfortably close distance. "So this is your minion eh?" The red-eyed woman asked Mozenrath but never took her eyes off Nef. "Hello Nefret, My name is Chroias." She extended her hand tipped in vicious looking claws. Nef took it with a false smile. "Any friend of Mozenrath is an...acquaintance of mine." But as Nef spoke the sarcastic words she could feel Chroias's fingers tightening over hers, locking them in a competitive show of strength. Nefret returned the favor and crooked her fingertips down, imbedding her nails in the pale hand of the demon to drive her point home. Chroias laughed and loosened her grip turning her head over her shoulder to address Mozenrath. "She's a spirited little one isn't she!" she turned back to Nefret, her eyes flashed. "Just your type." She added in a menacing voice. Moze grumbled and ran a worried hand over his face. "I'm guessing your staying for a few days?" he inquired. Chroias answered with a toothy grin. Moze sighed. "Well I'll show you to your room." He motioned for her to follow him out into the hallway. "That wont be necessary." The demon chimed in. Mozenrath whirled around surprised. "I'm sure Nefret here can show me." She put a friendly arm around Nef's shoulders and bared her fangs in an evil grin. "Girl in troubl.." But Mozenrath grabbed Xerxes in a throttling grip before he could finish. The sorcerer left the room mumbling something that sounded like. "I better start looking for an new assistant..." Chroias followed Nefret up the stairs dragging her eyes over Mozenrath's minion, measuring her up. Her hair lay in unruly tresses of some odd color that could only be described as plum, her skin was a creamy tan, and the young woman's eyes where heavily lined in black. She was a good deal shorter than the daughter of Hades, who was 6ft, and was perhaps 5'5". From what Chroias could gather she was probably around 17 or 18, a few years younger than Mozenrath, but not to young to interest that jackal! But what Chroias really noticed were her clothing, a teal top that covered only the essential part of her chest and nothing more, and a skirt that was split so high up the sides it was nearly cut in half. Was this how she trampsed about the Citadel all day? In front of HER Mozenrath? "Your name is Chroias. That is about as far as you got." Nefret reminded the other woman. "Yes, I'm sure you haven't heard much of me. I am Mozenrath's guardian. Its my job is to keep him alive as long as possible." A smug look came upon her face. "When he dies he belongs to me. But you kinda screwed that up, didn't you? With the sharks tooth. Hey don't worry about it. I still need Mozenrath around and I've never been one to hold a grudge." "Then I sort of did you a favor didn't I?" Nefret asked the woman, not really expecting an answer. "Well for you, an immortal demon, another 1000 years isn't long to wait. Don't get me wrong, if I had but known he had a lover waiting for him in death.." Nefret left the statement unfinished as they entered the chamber hall. She grinned slyly and watched the demoness out of the corner of her eye. Chroias almost gave away her surprise but was able to keep a straight face. "Ha, did you two really think you could keep it under wraps?" Nef asked. The demoness looked over with a raised eyebrow in an unspoken question. "How did I know? I am a priestess of Hathor, and a woman. I can tell." Nefret opened the very last door of the corridor and began striping the linens off of the barley used furniture. "The way he looks at you, the strange way he's been acting all morning, and most notably your aggression towards me." Mozenrath's henchwench explained between grunts of her labor as she prepared the room for use. Chroias plopped down on the newly made bed. "So you know what I'm wondering then?" She asked as she watched Nefret take a basin of water from a mumluk and set it on the dressing table. "A Priestess of Hathor, and servant of Mozenrath yes, seer..no." Nefret turned to Chroias motioning for her to continue. "Are you Mozenrath's mistress?" Chroias asked bluntly cracking a whip that appeared out of nowhere. Nefret choked for a moment and she raised her hand to her mouth. Chroias was sure she had caught that little devil Mozenrath red handed. But instead of a tearful confession uncontrollable laughter meet Chroias ears. She looked up staggered. "What the hell is so funny?" Nefret could hardly bring herself to answer. "Mozenrath and I...." She managed to sputter before another wave of mirth overtook her. "I'll have you know my Mozie is a very handsome man and you'd be extremely lucky to have him." Chroias knew she should be relived, and she was to a degree, but also offended that this woman should be so amused by the thought of him. "I know, I know." Nef wiped her eyes getting in control. "It's just that things have never been that way and I am rather amused that you would ever get that idea. Surly you don't see any of the signs!" Nef started to fold the dust linens. "It seems only natural, you and Mozenrath living out here, alone.. Well at least with no other living soul around." She corrected herself as a mumluk on patrol passed by the open door. "Not to mention the fact that Mozenrath is a little charmer!" "I can testify to that!" Nefret chuckled but hastily shut up as the whip appeared again. She cleared her throat apprehensively. "Mozenrath and I prefer to keep our relationship strictly within the realm of a friendly lord and assistant. Things are..easier that way. Dinner will be ready by the time you wash up. You do know the way to the dinning room?" "Darling I have been walking these halls while you were still on bended knee at your temple." Chroias stated as she rose and began preparing for dinner. "Than see you at the dinner table." Nefret smiled and walked out of the room still holding back laughter. Her eyes were watering and she could hardly see where she was going. She gasped and choked back her yell of shock as she walked into something solid. "Oh! Good evening my lord Mozenrath. Excuse me." that said she broke into another fit of laughter and patted his shoulder before heading into her room. Moze looked after her curiously. He took a step in the direction of his minion's door then thought better of it and continued down the hallway to Chroias' room. Chapter 3 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias couldn't decide as to what her opinion on her Mozie's little servant was. The girl was pretty enough, she would admit that much. And was hating to admit that the girl seemed rather intelligent. But what she really hated admitting to was the fact that she was starting to LIKE the blasted minx. A clicking sound came up behind her and she turned to see Mozenrath in the door. "Hello love." She said seductively as he sat down beside her. "Hi." He pulled Chroias a bit closer. "You actually let her live?" Chroias laughed. "That remains to be seen." She drew a claw across Mozenrath chin. "I got to admit I like the little brat. She's....tenacious!" "You have no idea." Mozenrath sighed. "Sometimes I could just kill her." He saw the look of hope on Chroias's pale face. "But I did make a deal. And I am NOTHING if not at least true to my word." "Oh really? And what about that little vacation in the Abyss you promised me?" She let her hand roam decidedly to Mozenrath's red sash. "Dinner time!" Xerxes called out into the room interrupting the two's moment and earning a vile look from Chroias. "You know I hate that damn eel." She whispered into Mozenrath's ear. "Xerxes is useful to me in his own way." He gripped on of Chroias's wrists. "And don't even think about sending another hell hound after him. I spent a month repairing all the furniture and getting new shoes after what he did. Not to mention all the cleaning Nefret had to do when he left all the post housebroken presents lying around." Chroias batted her eyes becomingly. "Now Mozie, would I pull a stunt like that?" "Ta hell you wouldn't!! And don't sick any on Nefret either. I went through a lot of trouble to get a hold of her." "You better not be getting a hold of any of her!" Chroias cracked a whip in the air. If possible Mozenrath paled even further. "I believe Xerxes said dinner was ready." Nefret was sitting patiently at a table when Mozenrath entered followed by the demon Chroias. He dark green hair was pulled back in a lose bun with strand's sticking out and curling in odd ways. She wore a complicated black dress with two slits going all the way up to her hip, showing the pale shapely legs beneath. Her bare white arms extended as Mozenrath pulled out her chair for her. "You know he's only a gentleman when I'm around." Chroias directed the comment to Nefret. The plum haired girl smiled. "I wasn't aware Mozenrath even knew how to be a gentleman." "I'll have you know I'm perfectly capable of being courteous when the need arises." "I'll bet the need isn't the only thing arising." Nefret mumbled under her breath. Chroias chocked back a laugh as she sipped wine. She pressed a napkin to her mouth in an attempt to hide it. Mozenrath gave her a deadly glare. "Maybe you need some fresh air." Chroias giggled lightly. "No! No! I'm fine! Promise." She turned her red eyes to Nefret. "Your...assistant has quite a keen perception of things." She twitched her tail back and fourth. "Sometimes I think a little too keen." Mozenrath turned the glare to Nefret. "Oh Moze you really aught a stop being so serious. Chroias thinks its funny and she hates me." Nefret glanced cautiously at the demon who took on a surprised look. "Hate you? What in the seven desert's made you think I hated you?" Chroias' fangs glinted as her mouth was hanging open in shock. "I don't hate you." "Really?" Nefret remained wary of the demoness. "Believe me..Nefret was it...I don't have the time to hate every girl Mozenrath has ever put in the Citadel. It would take me the next thousand years just to get rid of half of 'em." "So your not mad?" The question came from both Nefret and Mozenrath at the same moment. "I wouldn't say I'm particularly pleased over the situation." Chroias darkened at Nefret slightly. "But I would say this may take a bit of getting used to." Xerxes hissed angrily in the corner. He had expected to see the Nefret girl get a quick banishment into Hell before the dinner was over. But as it appeared, his fun had been destroyed. "How long are you going to be staying?" Nefret asked nervously. Chroias thought. Really she had only planned to come for a date, but if this Nefret girl was going to be around long..... "Perhaps a year or two. After all, I can't just leave my Mozie LIEING AROUND can I." She looked about the Citadel. "Besides I've heard a certain street rat is commenting on how Mozenrath needs a girlfriend.... What's his name? Al... Ali Babba or something like that." "Aladdin." Mozenrath sneered at the name. "We can go to Agrabah tomorrow if you want." "No rush Mozie. I'd like to get to know Nefret here a bit better." Chroias grinned at Mozenrath's assistant. Her smile was totally unreadable. Xerxes sniggered in the corner. Maybe master's girlfriend would get rid of her. Chapter 4 (by me)  
  
Dinner had gone well enough. The conversation had mostly consisted of Chroias reporting on what was new in Tauraus and Mozenrath plotting what he should do when he and Chroias arrived in Agrabah. His vision was the usual, slash .burn .humiliate ..maim.kill. Nothing that Nefret hadn't heard out of his mouth a thousand times over. After all seven courses had been served and cleared Nefret excused herself politely to let them, well.. Do whatever they wished. She lay on her side across a large ottoman in the study flipping though a book trying to find a spell Mozenrath had wanted, but she just couldn't bring herself to read. 'Why hasn't Moze ever told me of Chroias? He could have at least prepared me for a 6ft red-eyed demon on a jealous rampage!' She tossed the book away and let her head hang over the side of the couch. "Oh well" she sighed. "At least I'm still in one piece. For now, at least." Nef closed her eyes to get some much-needed relaxation. A cold shock ran through her system as something warm and wet ran itself across her right eye. She sprang up and to face her much beloved hound Anubis. She playfully pulled him into an embrace "Damn you dog! I thought Chroias had slit my throat and my life's blood was spilling onto my face! Ahhh well.. But you know, I think she rather likes me! After all we do seem to share a hobby." Anubis cocked his head to one side questionly. "Making Mozenrath uncomfortable of course!" as if on cue Mozenrath entered the room. He looked like he had been sneaking around as he closed the door quietly behind him. "There you are!." He whispered. "No don't say anything, I have to make this quick." She silenced her and crouched by the couch. "I want you to be alert and well armed for the next few days." "Are you saying you want me to hurt your girlfriend?" Nef breathed in sarcastic disbelief. "No, but if the need arises (he winced as her remembered what had happened the last time he had said that) . if something happens, I want you to be prepared. If nothing but to show her your not to be pushed around easily. I doubt you could seriously hurt her anyways" "Uh huh." Nefret picked up the book again with disinterest. But Mozenrath grabbed her wrist and wheeled her around to face him. "Do you know how much magic I gave up just to secure your position as my assistant?!" He let his voice rise, forgetting in his anger he was trying not to draw attention. "Sometimes I wonder if it was a wise decision." Mozenrath reverted to a hissing whisper. "Oh you know it was! After all, who would organize your despicable lab, look up spells and make sure thing run well while your gone? You've gotten so used to my help the Citadel would probably crumble and burn if I left! And need I remind you who it was that discovered the secret of the sharks tooth?" she poked said item through his clothing. "My point exactly! You have been valuable in the past, and I want you to be so again in the future!" Mozenrath released her wrist in disgust and patted to the door. "Uh huh." Nefret let slip. Moze whirled around to glare at her "I don't want to lose you Nef!" He hissed vilely, but there was sincerity in the statement. Nefret realized she might have taken her sarcastic tongue to far. "Yes my lord. I promise. I do!" She added with a small smile. Mozenrath let out a little sigh of relief and smiled back. It was rather late at night when Chroias left her chamber and headed down the hall. She stopped at an unknown chamber door and listened. A honey voice resonated in her ears. Nefret. Chroias cautiously cranked open the door and peer inside. Nef sat cross-legged on the bed, her back to the door. She was singing sweetly to herself as she copied something from a book onto a clean sheet of paper. "I am lonely like the moon you are away as the earth now you say I light your thoughts night after night Soon you forget." Nefret sang to herself. Chroias saw a golden opportunity. Without a sound she crept behind the girl who didn't seem to notice. "We are drifting in this dance, I can feel you circle my heart, keeping such a graceful distance." Chroias raised a hand ready to scare the living daylights out of Mozenrath's assistant. "Unlike the demon that is sneaking up behind me!" Nefret finished her song. Chroias froze, how did she know? It was then she was a highly polished bronze statue of Hathor on the bedside table, and in it her reflection. Nefret looked at the statue and waved at Chroias's image, the demoness waved back grinning. "Clever." The red-eyed woman commented as she sat on the bed and took the paper Nefret had been writing. It was some kind of special fire spell. "Than again, I shouldn't be surprised. You would have been out on your cute little kester long ago if you hadn't proved yourself useful." "Ha, it's come close a few times. I swear that man will be the death of me one day! He may just kill me for not getting this spell to him sooner!" Nefret took back the paper and stood up smoothing her simple linen night slip. "And why haven't you little assistant?" "I've been busy preparing that." She pointed to the corner where a large gold and bronze crossbow leaned against the wall. "We are going to Agrabah tomorrow." "I thought this Aladdin was a hero. I know his type, they'd rather cut off there own arm than hurt an innocent." Chroias inspected the weapon. It was heavy and highly polished its inner working in perfect order. "Thanks to Mozenrath I'm no longer innocent." She realized what those words implied only after they were said. "What I mean is. Aladdin considers me a good girl in a bad situation, however if I choose to follow Moze over him I become his enemy." "If?" Chroias inquired. "No, there is no if. Mozenrath has let a few of my slips go by, just part of the breaking in process, but no more. Our deal is signed in blood. I have other reasons for the crossbow to. What were you going to do back there anyways?" Nef quickly changed the subject. "Just scare you a little! Honest I wouldn't hurt you." Nefret turned to her skeptically. "Besides we do share a hobby." She reminded with a grin. "Sneak." Nefret scolded playfully. "So, do we have an understanding? No bloodshed till we know what we think of one another? " The servant inquired thrusting out her hand. Chroias grinned and extended her own hand, but pulled it back before Nefret could grab it. "But understand I reserve the right to withdraw under extreme circumstances." "I would expect nothing less!" Nef retorted before they shook. "For gods sake Nefret haven't you gotten that spell yet?!" Mozenrath burst into the room. His face faulted as he saw the two women sitting on the bed leafing through the book. "Do you make it a habit to burst into a young lady's room without warning?" Chroias made a point to bear her fangs as she spoke. "Uh. Well.." he looked around tensely. "In fact he has gotten a little to used to it." Nefret looked at Mozenrath mischievously. "Well.. I'm lord to this Kingdome! I shall go where I wish when I wish!!" Mozenrath took a proud stance. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson." Chroias pulled out her whip and cracked it above her head. Mozenrath's eyes went wide. "Oh Gods! The forces have united!!!!!!" He hollered before hastily exiting the room, forgetting the spell he had wanted. Xerxes followed with a hiss, he had been hoping Chroias would fix it so he would be the soul minion of his master, but that hope was circling the drain. The girls looked at each other and laughed knowing what the other was thinking. 'Poor Moze, he didn't stand a chance in hell now!' Chapter 5 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias yawned. Her body took on a cat like posture as she stretched out in her bed. 'At least he had the decency to get the sheets turned down for me.' She thought as she pushed herself out of bed. Chroias hated getting up this early, but they were going to visit Agrabah today and wanted to look her best. She had every intention of making her Mozenrath look good in front of this....hero. Just as she was slipping off her nightgown, the aforementioned walked in. "Mozenrath!" She screamed and pulled out a whip. "What did I say last night about walking in on a Lady's bedroom?" Mozenrath stopped just short of a withering comment as to the demonesses lady hood. "I know what you said....but I didn't think you'd mind an early morning visit." He gave a charming smile and on of the rougesh winks he was so well known for. Chroias giggled despite herself. "I thought you were going to take me to see Agrabah." She said as the sorcerer swooped her up. "We have all day." Mozenrath answered in retort. "Nefret is waiting downstairs." Chroias said desperate now for an excuse. "Let her wait." Nefret munched on a fig down at the dinning room table. What was taking those two so bloody long was beyond her. Well actually it wasn't but she had decided not to pursue the subject. Xerxes was off in a corner humming a nonsense song about how master's girlfriend was going to put Nefret's head on a spike. Nefret cast the eel an angry glare and ignored him. Without thinking she slammed the fig down on the table and caused her entire top to become stained in the juice. "Oh that's gonna leave such a stain!" Nefret looked up at Chroias. She almost blanched at the extremely reviling out fit that the green haired demon had on. A dark emerald green tube top had long sleeves with a fighting style support to it. She had a short black skirt obviously made that way to allow movement. But the boots were the thing that really got her. They traveled all the way up to the hip and seemed to be made of shiny leather. The only thought in Nefret's head was 'How can she walk in those heels?' he demoness grinned. "You like? It's my fav outfit." Her whip was curled at her side and the short dagger she owned was on her boot. Mozenrath strode in behind her. The oddly pleased look on his face told Nefret exactly why the two had been late. "So are we ready to go?" He questioned in an almost cheerful voice. "I'm ready." Chroias cooed in an almost child like fashion. "Yah I'm ready too if anyone cares." Nefret made a large attempt not to giggle at the way Mozenrath was trying not to look at his girlfriends.....bare essentials. The sorcerer suddenly seemed to realize she was there. "Who said you were coming?" He questioned. "Awwww Mozie let her come." Chroias toyed with a curled lock of his hair. "It would make me really happy." Nefret had never seen Mozenrath look so completely at another person's mercy. "Well I suppose if YOU watch her." He managed to mumble out before she kissed him. Xerxes made a hoarse gagging sound in the corner. "But we are so not taking the eel." Chroias growled and hissed at the gray blob. "Once again I agree with her." Nefret walked up. "So are we going or what?"  
  
"As soon as I do one thing." Chroias said. She looked pointedly at Nefret. "Do what?" Nefret said hopping desperately that the demon would remember the deal they had made last night. Chroias pointed at the blouse and mumbled a short phrase. A stream of green sparks shot out and blasted on Nefret's blouse. The purple fig stain dissolved. "Ok now I'm ready." "Hey Than.....!" Nefret never got to finish the sentence as the blue-black flame enveloped them. Chapter 6 (by Me)  
  
Mozenrath turned to Chroias as she held up a rather expensive looking necklace to her chest, he nodded in approval an flipped a small coin purse to the marketplace vender. Chroias beamed happily, she had him wrapped around her little finger! On the adjacent booth Mozenrath noticed a small amulet of Hathor lying among the merchandise. "Hey Nefret look what...." But his words died as he looked around and saw that only Chroias was behind him. "Chroias, dear, weren't you supposed to look after Nefret?" She nodded in the affirmative. "Than where is she?" He asked slowly. The demon looked around as if shocked then remembered. "Oh yeah, she left a while ago, had things to do I guess." She bit her nail childishly as Mozenrath's eyes grew wide with either anger or concern, it was hard to tell. "Well really Mozy assigning me to 'look after' her as if she was a child. The girl can handle her own!" "I have no doubt of that, I just wonder can I handle it!" He sighed and headed to where she would most likely be. It was musty and rather dirty in the Skull and Dagger. Thieves and cutthroats crowded the tables and bar stools. The door lay in a smoldering heap on the floor, that was the last time someone would ask Mozenrath for a password! It didn't take long for Mozenrath to find his assistant, a crowd had gathered around a small table in the back. They yelled and applauded rowdily. Moze fought through the crowd and took a seat at the table, Nefret smiled at him sweetly over her hand of cards. "Good afternoon my lord!" Nef sorted her hand and returned her attention to her not so happy looking opponent. Chroias took note of two piles of coins on the table, one significantly larger then the other. "Uh, Nefret dear, which are your winnings?" she demoness pointing to the small fortune. "That one." Nefret idly indicated the bigger pile. This brought a smile to the red-eyed woman's face as she pulled out her coin purse to bet on her boyfriend's servant. Mozenrath stopped her with an annoyed growl. "How did you get in without the password?" Mozenrath asked his minion. Nefret turned to him slyly. "There called boobs Moze." Nef said seriously. Mozenrath paled to an ungodly shade of white as she and Chroias burst into laughter. "No just kidding! Amin Damoola gave me the password when you hired him that one time." Coins spilled everywhere as Nefret desperately tried to stuff them into her bag while Mozenrath dragged her to the door by the wrist. Chroias trotted after them, but had the piece of mind to grab what she could off the table.  
  
"What in Hades were you thinking? The people who frequent these sorts of places would think nothing displaying you head the mantel of whatever god- forsaken place they call home! You really must have a death wish!" Mozenrath grumbled barley audible. "Oh now, my love, its not all that bad! She's packing heat!" Chroias pointed to the crossbow slung over her shoulder. "And you know she would have won the next hand, that is if you'd let her. That would have been another 300 denary right there! Come on, let's at least have a drink!" Mozenrath released Nef's arm and stormed to a table leaving the two women behind "Tell me, how does the daughter of a scribe and a noble woman who became a priestess somehow manage to fall in with all the bad crowds?" Chroias inquired. As they walked calmly to the table Moze had selected. "It's a curse! A rather profitable curse!" she held up her purse pleased with the weight of it. Chroias smiled, despite everything she was finding herself liking the girl more and more. "Besides, you keep bad company, you attract bad company!" Nefret sited as she plunked into a chair gratefully excepting the wine and bread that was brought to them. Mozenrath tore in the bread with a vengeance, seeing his anger Chroias tapped her foot over his under the table. Moze rolled his eyes to the demoness. He soften a bit and she smiled, but their moment was broken as something heavy was thrown onto the table near Mozenrath. He looked up at Nefret who was beaming proudly. Cautiously her unwrapped the bundle to reveal something he had only seen in books. The fire eye of Sekmet! An amulet of some unknown red stone and the only missing element to that special fire spell he had been working on. "I tracked it all through Agrabah, finally finding out it had been stolen. I figured most anything stolen ends up here one way or another. I won it in the card game that you were so against." Nef added the last for an extra guilt trip. The corners of Mozenrath mouth twitched a bit. "This doesn't make up for sneaking off and disobeying me." He fired lamely.  
  
"No? Than I went though all the trouble and discomfort for nothing, not even a thank you?" Nefret sat back in her chair and Chroias could see the disappointment in her eyes. "You managed to line your pockets in the process, is that not thanks enough?" Mozenrath retorted. "Most of the money will go to pay my debts to all the people I bribed for information today. I'll be lucky if I'm able to buy bandages for my blistered feet." She sighed. Mozenrath looked at Chroias who gave him a knowing face. "I don't approve of you methods of sneaking off, disobeying me and putting yourself in danger, but.. You got the job done by and by. You did well." Mozenrath blurted out to get it over with. Nefret let out a satisfied sigh and headed to the bar for another loaf of bread, Mozenrath having pulverized the first. Chroias tugged playfully at a stray lock of her lover's hair. "Now was that so hard?" she whispered in his ear. "Why do you care? You were ready to take off her head before! She's not a very good servant ya know, always finding loopholes in my orders, disobeying me, and talking back! She just can't be broken!" He brought his cup down a little to hard. "Would you want to break her? Do you really need another brainless lackey? You already have Xerxes to fill that position. She possesses a spirit to wild to be conquered by you, that's why you're mad. And I suppose that's why I like her." Aladdin looked around the slum of a tavern. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a plum colored head. He only knew of one person with tresses like that! He had only been there to track down a very important artifact that was reported missing, but it appeared he had stumbled unto a larger problem. Agrabah hero watched as Nefret returned to her table. As expected Mozenrath was there, he never let Nefret out by herself, but so was another woman. Al slowly made his way to the table trying to look inconspicuous in his face veil and hood. He couldn't make out was being said between Nefret and the strange green-haired woman, but he could see what Mozenrath was lovingly inspecting. The fire Eye of Sekmet, the same artifact Al had been hunting down! A small piece of blue cloth was slammed on the group's table and everyone looked up at the unveiled culprit. "Hello there Mozenrath. You should have told you were in town!" Aladdin joked enigmatically. He looked at the ladies. "Is it just me or do you have a thing for women with odd colored hair?" "Huh, yes... you never have meet Chroias have you? Perhaps you would like to introduce yourself dear?" Moze turned to the demoness. She smiled as her fangs flashed. 


	2. Patron2

Patron Part Two Previously: Mozenrath's demonic girlfriend Chroias come for a date! She has found out about Nefret. Fearing the worst (ie: Moze is unfaithful) she confronts Nef. But the Egyptian girl makes it quite clear the nothing is going on and the girls form a truce and head to Agrabah where they run into Aladdin... Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content. Chapter Seven (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias smiled and stood to her full height. All in all she was about a foot and a quarter taller than the hero. "So this is the infamous Aladdin?" She said with mock respect. Aladdin had to step back to keep for leaning. Of course without meaning to his eyes caught the outfit that the green haired girl had on. His eyes got as big as saucers. "I am.." He managed to sputter out. "Ummm...." He eyed the outfit again." Your not from around here are you?" Chroias laughed." Indeed I am not. I am Chroias Dela Diabloa." She extended a clawed hand. Her index finger curled and pointed to him. "And you need to learn to keep your eyes on a woman's face when she speaks to you." Mozenrath felt his temper rise. Nefret heard the grinding of her lords teeth and promptly decided to put a stop to it. "Hi Al!" She blurted out in the middle of Chroias's glare. Both Aladdin demon and Moze suddenly seemed to realize that the plum haired girl had been standing back there. "Ummm.... hi Nef." He sounded rather confused but turned to Mozenrath. "Well, Moze I never figured you for the kinda guy who'd keep a harem. You know what with world domination and all...." "HAREM!!!" That word earned a deadly glare from both Nefret and Chroias. Chroias snapped her whip in the air around Aladdin's head. Mozenrath sat back and grinned. Aladdin had dug his own hole this time. Patron's from around the Skull and Dagger heard the familiar sound of a whip and began to gather. Blood shed was something they loved in any form. And well the fact that it was coming from a beautiful plum haired girl and a sexy lady didn't hurt the show. Aladdin backed up and looked desperately at Nefret for a moment. The plum haired girl shook her head. 'That's for the harem comment' she mouthed. Chroias grabbed the hero's collar. She pulled him up to her face. In other words she pulled hi up off the ground. The crowd around her cheered at the show of strength. "All right hero. I was intending to go easy on you. But you need a little lesson in respect." She whipped her tail forward catching the hero's legs and pulling him back. She raised her whip and got ready to deal a blow. "Incoming!" Screamed Nefret. The warning hit Chroias just in time. And the demoness was smarted to turn and see what was coming. She dropped to the floor, narrowly avoiding the circlet that whizzed through the air. "AILILILILILILILILILI!!!!" Chroias turned around and saw a sight that nearly made her vomit .A blue Genie stood in the door way, at least she thought it was a genie. She had never seen one wearing a studded leather kilt and bust combo before. "Al you ok?" The leather clad Genie called. "Yah I'm fine. Genie! Watch out!!!!' Apparently the Genie did not posses Chroias's intellect. He missed the opportunity to duck as the blue-black flame hit him. "That was for aiming at my girlfriend." Mozenrath suddenly seemed to realize what he had said and the opportunity he had given the Genie. "Girlfriend!!! Holy..." The genie caught a look at Chroias's green hair and tail. Not to mention the small horns atop her head. "UNHOLY!!! UNHOLY!!! VERY VERY UNHOLY!!!!!!" He bounced up to the ceiling and grabbed hold of one of the rafters. "Al GET OUT DEMON DEMON!!!" A cross appeared in the Blue blobs hand "Oh get thee behind me..." "Oh for the sake of Hades and all Tarturus." She swiped the cross from the Genie. "I'm Tartrisian!" She said as though that was supposed to mean something. The genie seemed to calm down. "Ohhhhhh! Dude one of Hades kids?" He zapped a cup of stemming coco and offered it to the girl. "Man haven't seen any of your type in ages. So how are things down there?" "Decent. I got a promotion in...." "Excuse me?????" The two...now four....no everyone in the Skull and Dagger turned to look at a very angry sorcerer. Not to mention a very confused looking Nefret and Aladdin. "Yes?" Chroias said "What is it love?" "Do you not yet manage to comprehend that the genie is with the Hero!" Mozenrath said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh!" She turned to him. "Are you?" "Yah...." Genie didn't even see the blow coming. "Damn. I was really starting to like him." She snapped out her whip and grabbed Aladdin's leg. "Well a hero with a Genie. Now that's something I haven't seen in a while." She pulled up Aladdin's chin so she could look him in the face. "You know, your kind cute for a hero." Mozenrath's face turned blood red and Nefret desperately tried to hide a laugh. It pierced the air though and Mozenrath shot her a vile, almost inhuman look. "ALL RIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!!" He seized Chroias's hand and pulled her around, causing her to drop the hero on his butt. "Moze what do you think your doing....?" Mozenrath pressed his lips over Chroias's. The demoness froze shocked for a moment. Then returned the kiss.  
  
Nefret wasn't sure to gag or be pleased that the attention was off Aladdin. She snuck over to the hero while the two were...occupied with one another. "Umm. If you going to leave the chance would be now." Aladdin looked at his friend. "But what about the.....?" "Don't worry about the stone I'll get it to you later. Don't I always?" Nefret nodded to Genie so he would get the idea. The two snuck out. None of them noticed Chroias's eye on Nefret. Mozenrath pulled away from Chroias. The demoness stumbled back for a moment and looked over at where Aladdin had been. "Hay where did the hero go?" Mozenrath turned around. "Damn it!!" He rushed out the door. Nefret sighed a sigh of relief. Suddenly she noticed Chroias was very close to her. "I'll get it to you later.....Don't I always?" She repeated. Nefret blanched a turned pale. She giggled nervously. "Ummmmm yah well....." Chroias almost cracked up. "I'm not gonna tell him." "Your not??" Nefret seemed genuinely surprised. "Why not?" She said suddenly suspicious. "Oh come on? I am not stupid!" Her voice turned a mocking singsong tone. "Nefret has a crush on the hero." "I DO NOT!!!!!!!!" Nefret denied completely. "He's a married man!" "Sure!" Chroias grinned her fang glinting. "Oh! Mozenrath's coming. We'll talk later." Mozenrath walked in. Well actually he more of sulked in. "I can't believe it. This bloody close......" He held his index a thumb half an inch apart. "And WHAMMM!!!! All because I just had to kiss my girlfriend!!!" "Awwwww!" Chroias slid up to the depressed sorcerer. "Is my widdle Mozzie upset?" She pulled him close. Mozenrath heard the comments from the onlookers. "Chroias! Not in front of the commoners." He whispered. His eyes went to Nefret. "And especially not in front of her." Chroias smiled....and planted a mouth open wet one his lips. Nefret's laughter was drowned out by the mocking owwwowooowoowoo's of the crowd. Chapter 8 (By me, Laura)  
  
Mozenrath had whipped up his cloak and disappeared heading back to the Citadel to collect a few items he would need of the fire spell. After all, he had found a good use for it now. Nefret And Chroias sat at the table, Nef nervously turning her ring around her pinky. "Your wrong you know." Nef breathed as Chroias looked up. "Just because I wanted to help Aladdin doesn't mean I like him." Nef blushed as Chroias moved close. "Liar!" the demon laughed. Nef scowled. "It really doesn't matter. Mozenrath took the eye with him." Nef pointed out. "Don't you think I can read? I saw the spell as you wrote it down. You know the counteractive force! 'Sekmet is the malevolence half of Hathor, therefore any true amulet of Hathor touched the Eye of Sekmet will subdue the power, merging the two halves into a whole force.'" Chroias quoted the book. Nefret sighed, damn, didn't this demon forget anything?! Suddenly something pulled on Nefret's skirt. She yelled and kicked whatever it was across the room. Abu hit the opposite wall and mumble some incomprehensible gibber. "What the hell is that?" Chroias eyed the monkey obviously unaware Aladdin had a pet. "Just some flea bitten rat!" Nef grabbed Abu and headed to the door. "Uh, I better throw it outside or it may end up on the dinner menu. If it does I dare you to eat it!" Chroias let Nefret get out the door before she headed to spy on her. Through a crack in the wall Chroias watched as Nef pulled a small gold charm from her top and give it to the monkey. "I don't have time to explain, just tell him it could be helpful." She watched as the monkey scampered off. "A good priestess is never without an amulet is she?" Nef spun around to meet Chroias eye, well maybe she had to look up a bit. 'Oh yeah I'm dead!' the thought stung her mind. "Not exactly, that was a cheap trinket I found in the marketplace, it might not be pure. And besides the book only says the halves will merge into a whole force, but not what the force does. I may have just made matters worse!" She walked past the demon heading to the abandoned building Mozenrath had set as a rondevo point. "So go ahead and flap your jaw to Moze. You will get what you have always wanted, my death." "I have to admit I no longer want that. I wont tell him. After all, do you really think Aladdin can beat Mozenrath with some cheap charm, especially with me around?" She laughed slightly. "And hey, if you catch that hero's heart with your good deeds, I wont half to worry about you and Mozy anymore!" Nef rolled her eyes but smiled a bit. A portal appeared in the rundown humble and Mozenrath stepped through. He held a staff with the Eye of Sekmet now securely attached to the end. Nef and Chroias looked up from their conversation. Aladdin, Jasmine, and genie raced through the city on carpet, their faces marred with anger and distress. Already two buildings in the back of town were ablaze, the smoke rising in thick coils toward heaven. Screams echoed through the dark night as the citizens of Agrabah watched their homes and lives dissolving to soot. Jasmine turned to Aladdin, tears already starting to well up in her eyes, her love wrapped his arm around the princess and handed her the small charm Nefret had sent. Jasmine hugged it to her chest finding some comfort. Suddenly the three were blinded as a sharp ray of pure light raced toward the sky. They looked heavenwards stunned, all seemed silent, still, and almost peaceful. Then a coil of liquid fire snaked its way down the shaft of light to bury itself deep into the ground sending nearby building and market place stands bursting into flames. The path of destruction was slowly making its way to the palace. Nefret looked around, shielding her eyes from the bright light of the inferno. 'Of course Aladdin would have to be late! He just had to make a dramatic appearance!' Mozenrath was certainly enjoying his new toy! His laugh bubbling out of his throat in stains of joyous reprise. Chroias seemed entertained as well. "Oh by Hathor!" Nef breathed, hardly audible as the familiar sight of carpet swooped down toward the street. Hero and company landed. "What took you so long? I was starting to miss our delightful little bouts!" Mozenrath exclaimed sarcastically turning to his nemesis. "Monster!" Aladdin ragged holding up the Hathor amulet triumphantly, but he still didn't know exactly how it worked. Mozenrath turned a suspicious eye to Nefret, then to Chroias. "I never took my eye off of her!" Chroias exclaimed, while it was true it wasn't the whole story. Mozenrath seemed convinced and turned his attention to the puffy haired hero. "No matter. In just a moment you and your little trinket will be nothing but dust!" Moze growled and pointed the Eye of Sekmet to Aladdin. Chapter 9 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias looked at the group. She nudged Nefret. "Who's the chick?" Nefret looked up. "Oh that's Jasmine. Aladdin's wife." She punctuated the statement and caught Chroias's eye as she did so. The demon nodded. 'I know I'm gonna regret this.' Chroias thought. She raised her arms and fired a bolt of neon green magic at the heroes. Mozenrath suddenly seemed to remember his girl was there. "What did you do that for? I had him all aimed up!!!" Chroias put a finger in her mouth and tried to look innocent. "I just wanted to help." She said. She gave Nefret a look. "You owe me." She murmured to the girl. Mozenrath growled. Jasmine turned to her love. "Who is that?" She said pointing to the green haired girl. Aladdin looked up. "Oh didn't Moze..." "Don't call me Moze!" "Tell you? He has a girlfriend." Aladdin held up the amulet again. "All right Mozenrath, you know better than to think your gonna get Agrabah with some little eye. I'll be nice and give you the opportunity to leave." Mozenrath threw back his head and laughed. "Oh please Aladdin. Are you forgetting my assets." He turned and looked at Chroias. "Asset!" The demoness looked insulted. "Is that all I am???!!!!! An asset!!" She screeched. Nefret had to duck to avoid the flame of dark green fire that had begun to grow around the pale demon. The flares spurted off in every direction. Aladdin and his friends ducked just in time to avoid becoming crispy critters. Mozenrath, to his credit, didn't move. "Chroias you know what I mean." He said in a light almost conversational voice. "And yes I do consider you an asset. A very valuable asset." The flames around Chroias simmered down. "So is that what you think?" She said in a deadly calm voice. "Do you think that the best place I can beg in your heart is as an asset to you?" Nefret looked at the demon. She didn't think it possible, but no it couldn't be... Could it??? Chroias looked at the jewel in her boyfriends hand. "Hay hero!" She called. "Catch." The eye flung itself from Mozenrath's hand and slammed full force into Aladdin's chest. Mozenrath looked appalled at the development. "Chroias what do you think your....!!!!" He turned to see the demoness and his assistant gone. Nefret looked at the pale girl. She barely had a chance to speak before Chroias ran off down the Citadel halls. Nefret slowly followed behind. As she reached her 'friends' door she heard a strange sound coming from within. "Hay Roias." She stopped. Where had that name come from. "Can I come in?" A short almost laughing sound echoed gently. "Sure, If you don't mind a little blood." For a split second Nefret panicked. Surly Chroias wouldn't try to kill herself! She opened the door and stood back in shock. Chroias lifted her face. Little red droplets were slowly tickling down her pale cheeks. 'Dear Hathor! She's crying!!' Chapter 10 (by me)  
  
Nef approached the demon carefully, pulling a small cloth of the dressing table as she went. "Oh Roias.." She paused to make sure she didn't mind her using that name. She didn't seem to. Nef took the woman into her arms gently and began to wipe away the bloody tears, staining the cloth red. "Boy I'd hate to see your handkerchiefs!" Nefret joked, but this her sarcastic sense of humor wasn't going to help this time. "I don't know what to say. Chroias, to be honest I have been scared to death of you, but now I see you truly as you are. Thank you, my friend." "Your welcome my friend." Chroias and Nefret smiled at each other and their new break though. Nef began to hum a nameless tune as she helped Roias dry the blood and fix her face. Heavy footsteps echoed out in the hall the two women stopped dead. "CHROIAS!" came the enraged voice of Mozenrath. The women looked at each other desperately. Nefret smiled reassuringly. "I'll take care of it." The plum haired woman left the room and snuck down the hall. It didn't take long to find her lord as he stomped up the corridor to Chroias's room. "Mozenrath.." Nef began, but he pushed past her. "Moze!" she exclaimed running in front of him and placing her hands on his chest in an attempt to stop him. But even though she out weighed him by a pound or two he never slowed and she was pushed along and finally nudged aside. It was then the Egyptian woman got an idea, not to say it was a very good idea, but she really didn't have much time. Nefret raised her hands letting a small fireball spark and grow between them. As soon as it was about as big as an apple she hurled it forward hitting him squarely in the shoulder blades. Mozenrath had been the one to give her the ring, and had made sure there was no way it could be used against him. The worst he felt as a little tickle, but it was enough to grab his attention. Mozenrath spun around to face his assistant reversing his path back to her. Now that she had her master's attention Nef began a speech that she hadn't had much time to practice. "Don't blame Chroias, she did it for me." "This has nothing to do with you. My girlfriend turned against me. She did it for ALADDIN!" His words were on fire and Nef could almost feel their burn. "No! She helped Aladdin because she was mad and to help me. You see.. she feels...she thinks." Nefret began to sputter, but realized if she was going to keep his attention she was going to have be bold. "She saved Aladdin to spite you! And rightfully so! And so help me if you yell at her I don't care if you're my master, I will get my cross bow and hunt you through this damn Citadel till you agree to come to your senses!!" Nef fumed, then her face faulted as he grasped she might have gone to far. Mozenrath's face remained unchanged for a moment, but lighted just barley at first, then his lip pulled into an amused smile. "Empty threats don't become you my little minion." He pointed out. Nefret grumbled and crossed her arms. "Alright, I'll go easy on her and let her try to explain. But you keep your nose out of it! I have to deal with you latter." He began to walk away and this time Nefret didn't try to stop him. She could tell he was still mad, but at least she had managed to dissolve some of his temper. Nef turned her eyes upward. "Oh Hathor, don't let them screw this up!" Nefret asked in a pleading voice, hoping her goddess was listening. Then, almost as an afterthought, Nef headed to the kitchen to see that dinner was being prepared and to take her place setting off the table. After all, nothing smoothed furrowed emotions like a nice dinner for two. Chapter 11 (by kalynn)  
  
Chroias was still weeping when she heard the footsteps of her boyfriend entering the room. Her red eyes glared angrily up at him. "What do you want?" She said accusingly. "Don't you dare get angry with me!" He shouted suddenly. "What did I say that set you off anyways?" "What did you......?"Chroias's face contorted to an ungodly posture. "You called me an asset! You may as well have degraded me to being one of your minions!!!" She glanced at Nefret in the doorway. "Nefret not included." she said as a side note. Mozenrath blanched. He had never meant it in that way. He had certainly never thought of his Girlfriend as one of his Minions! But the problem was going to be explaining that to Chroias. "I......" he started. 'Damn I never was good at apologies' "I didn't mean it like that." "Then why'd you say it?" Chroias was still angry. The bloody tears were continuing to fall down her cheek. "And in front of the hero's too!!!" She looked slightly helpless for a moment. A thing Mozenrath had never seen before. "You acted as though we had no sort of discernable relationship at all." She grabbed her lover's hand and tore the gauntlet from it. "What do you think your doing?" Mozenrath barely said before Chroias placed the bone hand on her neck. Mozenrath and Nefret froze. "Are you completely forgetting what we were?" Chroias said quietly. "Back when Destain still ruled you?" Mozenrath's eyes darted to Nefret. For the first time Nefret saw a small amount of humility in her lord. The turbaned head lowered. Mozenrath was thinking his own thoughts. "I remember." He said softly, head still down. "I can't forget." He murmured. "Then don't pretend like I mean absolutely nothing to you." She whispered. "I am sorry about the eye of Sekmet. But you'd be better of thanking me for it." She said slowly slipping back into her old attitude. Mozenrath suddenly remembered why he had been mad at her in the first place. "And why would I be thanking you for removing it? I had Agrabah very close to destruction and then I say one wrong word......" "Well if you really wanna know......" She glanced over at Nefret momentarily. 'Am I really gonna betray her after what just happened? Am I really that low?' "The eye was a fake!" she blurted suddenly. "Some sorcerer filled it with just enough power for somebody to get themselves in trouble with then it will explode." Nefret almost smiled. She had suspected that the demon might use her to get back in Mozenrath's good graces. But apparently.... Mozenrath turned to look at his minion. "All that crap about the card game and the damn thing was a fake?" Nefret shrugged. "Hay can't win 'em all." Mozenrath gave her a sour look. He caught the double auntaund in her statement. But he digressed. Slowly he turned back to Chroias and let a slight smile take his face. He picked up a corner of his cape and dabbed it to her face, wiping away some of the blood Nefret had missed. Chroias looked up and rewarded him with a smile. No fang or teeth, just a calm smile. Suddenly Mozenrath remembered his assistant. Nefret had an almost adorable look on her sweet face. She caught the withering look on her lords and decided to go ahead and break the romantic tension. "Awwwwwwwwwwwww. You too are just so cute together." Mozenrath's mouth began to pull at the edges. Nefret knew she had to push the final button. "Do I hear wedding bells??" "All right that's it......" Mozenrath spun and grabbed his minions arm. "You are so going to get it for this one." He began to mercilessly tickle her. "Girl I know your not forgetting me!!" Chroias went for the rib cage as Nefret began to panic. "Wait a min... You have CLAWS!!!!!" None of the group noticed a gray eel sitting in the shadows. Xerxes was not looking pleased, first the Nefret moves in and now his girlfriend!!!!!!! That was almost too much. Chapter 12 (by me)  
  
Nefret stopped at the door of the kitchen just long enough to watch Mozenrath and Chroias take their seats and exchange small secret smiles. With a sigh she continued on her way past the bread ovens and small cooking fire to the preparation table where she had instructed her meal to be set. Roias had pleaded that she take dinner with them, hell even Mozenrath had agreed! But it was just better this way. 'Not exactly a sight to spark your appetite.' Nef thought as she watched the mumluks putter around the large cooking area. She let out a heavy sigh and reclined in the chair, slowly tracing the small scratches on her abdomen. 'Damn Roias and those claws!' She smiled playfully. It seemed things were all patched up, and Nef hadn't been this happy in years. 2 years to be exact, ever since she had sold herself to Mozenrath. Sure, the relationship between her and her lord was friendly, but she had missed the sisterly bond she had had with the other priestess's in Dendera. Chroias somehow filled that void. Nefret thoughts were broken as Xerxes entered the room slithering up to the table. "Did Moze throw you out? Is something going on in there not fit for polite eyes?!" She joked. A positively demonic look graced Xerxes face as he drew back his head and spite in her face. Nef sat sunned for a moment, then in a flash her hand darted to a butcher knife and she took off after the retreating eel. Mozenrath and Chroias looked up surprised as Xerxes flew threw the room followed by Nef. She stopped dead in her tracks caught in their stare. "Have an enjoyable dinner my lord." She wavered trying to hide the knife before hastily walking into the hall. The sorcerer and demon looked at each other and exchanged shrugs. "Um shouldn't you rescue your eel?" The green haired woman asked. "Na, this happens a lot. Nefret will only corner him and give him a bit of a scare. She's never hurt him." He explained passively "Oh." Chroias breathed still not quite convinced as a crash echoed from somewhere far away. Nefret sat in her room a few minutes latter nursing her wounds, that eel had sharp teeth! She had never seen him so hostile. Sure he had never liked her, and took every chance he could to cut her short, but never had he attached her like that! Chroias cracked open the door and crept inside, this time making sure no reflective where close by. She was about a foot away when..... "Hello Roias." Nef grumbled without turning around. Chroias face dropped. "It's no fair!" she crashed on the bed as Nef smiled at her. "Your just no fun! I did come up here to invite you to eat desert with us, but if your going to be that way." Chroias put on a show of mock anger, it was to transparent. Mozenrath rose quickly to pull out a chair for his girlfriend, who took it graciously. Nefret cleared her throat. Moze rolled his eyes, but he would humor her request, he was in a rather good mood for once. Nef sat down in the chair her lord offered. Both the woman laughed. Xerxes scowled at the doorway. It was late that night when Mozenrath returned to his own bed, and wearily fell into slumber. Xerxes crept into the room. On the dressing table he spotted what he was after, the gauntlet. It had been bad enough when his beloved master had come home with an assistant (as if he wasn't enough) but now moving in his girlfriend? That was the last straw! 'I'll get be the favorite of my master yet! No matter what it takes!' He chuckled in a hissed whisper as he swam out into the hall with the gauntlet in his mouth. Chapter 13 (By Kalynn)  
  
Xerxes carried the gauntlet around in his mouth. What to do with it was clear in his mind. He slithered down the hallways and in to Nefret's room. Oh, man master would kick her out for sure now. Nefret laughed as Chroias did her impression. "Ok what am I now?" She stretched her mouth back and pulled the skin below her eye to make it bigger than the other. Nefret giggled. "Xerxes!" she squealed. Chroias and Nefret collapsed against each other. They had been up for hours now, cementing the newfound friendship. The two had come to find they had far more in common that just tormenting Mozenrath. In fact the two shared almost twin like reflexes. Nefret pulled herself up and sat back down. "OK ok what we need to do is play truth or dare." Chroias nodded. She had been just about to suggest the same thing. "Ok you go first." Nefret sighed. She had been hoping the demon would say that. "Truth or dare." "Truth." Chroias said without hesitating. Nefret got ready to tread carefully. "Do you...love Mozenrath?" Chroias's blanched momentarily. "Now that's a question, I hadn't expected for a while." she nibbled at a claw thought fully. "I have been with him a very long time." she said in an almost wistful voice. "How long?" "Almost seven years. Since he defeated Destain. And a little before." she murmured. "Seven years!!!!" Nefret yelled. "Most girls would have expected a marriage proposal by now." "Yeah well to do that he'd have to meet the parents." she said with a grin. "And not to many guys are willing to come and meet my dad." She giggled a bit. "Can you imagine a meeting between Hades and Mozenrath?" Nefret giggled in suite. "But that still doesn't answer the question. Do you love him?" Chroias smiled and motioned for the girl to come closer. She whispered something into her friend's ear. As Nefret pulled away a small smile graced her lips. "But you can never tell him that. I won't risk him knowing." Nefret questioned. "Why not?" "Think about it!" Chroias said harsher than meant. "If he knew that I... I mean what would he do? Propose?" She gave Nefret a get real look. "Can you imagine Moze down on one knee?" Nefret giggled. "Oh Horus no. I can't." She realized how cruel it might sound. "Oh I didn't mean..." "No it's all right. I realized a long time ago that Mozenrath would never be ready to ask a girl to marry him. No really because he doesn't want to. But more because he's just as afraid of rejection as the next guy." Nefret smiled. "So your willing to live with just being his girlfriend for the next century or two?" Chroias smiled. "I'll take him anyway I can get him. Nefret took a sip of the punch. "Your turn." "Truth or dare." "Truth" "Are you a virgin?" "OH YOU LITTLE!!!!!" Nefret began to pelt Chroias with pillows. Xerxes sneered as her swam by. "You gonna get it." He murmured as the two continued to destroy each other with the upholstery. Chapter 14 (by me)  
  
Nefret and Chroias collapsed in a pile of pillows, feathers and the odd knickknack that had been knocked off the table in their playful battle. Both were out of breath but continued to try and hit one another till their arms refused to lift. "Truth or dare?" Nef breathed. "You're not going to answer the last question? That's the whole point of the game!" the demon was catching her breath. Nef rolled her eyes to her with a little smirked. "So truth or dare?" Nef repeated determined. "The only dare that would be challenging to me right now is to stay awake a moment longer." Chroias breathed standing up and heading to her room. "I agree! Goodnight Roias." Nef turned on her side and shoved her former weapon under her head. "Sleep well Nef." Chroias murmured stopping at the door before turning into the hall. Xerxes "ear" was plastered to Nef's door. As soon a he heard her breath even out into the tell-tail rhythm of sleep he let himself in and looked around. It couldn't be too obvious, the reminded himself. Mozenrath stretched and yawned, throwing his legs over the side of the bed with a huff. It was morning, but still a bit dark outside; of course it was never very sunny in the Land of the Black Sand. He stocked to his dressing table to wash up and dress in his usual outfit. As was his habit every morning he reached down to the table to retrieve his gauntlet. His fingers grazed the wood and searched a bit, but came up empty. Mozenrath looked over a bit surprised, the table was without a doubt bare. Mozenrath forced himself to stay calm as he began to hunt the rest of his chambers, in the end turning everything over. "Something wrong master?" Xerxes asked fending innocents. Mozenrath pushed past his familiar and into the hall. The door was flung open in Chroias room, succeeding in waking her quite rudely. "Hey, I'll have you know I was having a nice dream. Have we came for another early morning visit?" she inquired seductively, but for once Mozenrath paid no attention to that oh so familiar tone in her voice. Instead he proceeded to search her room thinking he might have left it there in the time he had spent here last night. "What in Hades's name are you doing?!" she cried as half the items resting her bedside table crashed to the ground. "The gauntlet! It's gone." His voice was on the verge of panic. It was then that Chroias noticed his skeletal hand was bare. Her room was in complete shambles by now, and still no trace of it. Chroias followed Mozenrath as he stomped out the door and back out into the hall. His next stop was Nefret's room. "What?" Nef's half sleepy voice asked before the door was pulled open. She was in he robe and her hair was half brushed. "I know I'm a bit late, but Chroias and I..." she was unable to finish before Mozenrath interrupted. "Have you seen my gauntlet?" He was trying to remain calm. "It was on your hand last night. Isn't there now?" He answered her by holding up his arm and wiggling his bony fingers. "Oh... well then.... no I haven't seen it." While she had lived with him for a good 2 years she still hadn't gotten used to his hand. "Why is it..?" again she couldn't finish. "IT'S GONE!" Mozenrath cried. The girls had quit their search and meet each other in the dinning room, each giving a shrug. Neither had had any luck. Nef crashed into a chair and began munching on a pear she had found in the panty as Chroias sighed and sat down on the edge of the table. Mozenrath stocked in, his hand still bear. "It's not in the library, lab or study." Chroias reported. "It's not in the throne room, pantry or any of the parlors." Nef added. "Not in halls!" Xerxes entered the room. "What room hasn't been searched?" Mozenrath asked himself fingering his chin thoughtfully. "We search bedrooms?" the eel inquired, knowing exactly where to direct the conversation. "Only mine and Roias's. Those are the only chambers I was in last night. "But I suppose we should check Nef's, we've looked in all the other commonly used rooms." "It has as much chance of being in there as it does being in the stable." Nef snorted. She was getting slightly annoyed, Moze looses something and all the sudden it's everyone's job to help rectify the situation. The four of them, well three and the eel, entered Nef's bedroom. The first order of business was to pick through the pillows still lying on the floor, nothing. Mozenrath moved to the bed and lifted the mattress. "Really Moze, how in Hades would it get there?" Chroias quipped looking up from the writing desk she and Nef were going through. "How should know? Sometime I think that thing has a mind of it's own!" He joked. The bed checked out and Moze opened his assistant's trunk next. Kneeling down he began to take out its contents. A few linen dresses, jewelry, Nef's secret stash of coins, which were no longer so secret Nef thought with a roll of her eyes. He froze as he uncovered something hidden at the very bottom. Chroias looked over curiously as she heard Moze draw in a sharp breath. She joined her love at the trunk, paling a bit (if that's possible) as she saw what he was looking at. "What?" Nef asked a bit unnerved by their expressions. Moze and Chroias looked at each other than to Nef. "What is it? Is something wrong?" Chapter 15 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias looked closely at Mozenrath's face. "Moze..." she murmured. But he ignored her. "Nefret come here." he said quietly. The minion gave Chroias a half afraid look. "What is it?" she questioned. Mozenrath had an angry gaze in his eye as he brought forward the gauntlet. Nefret's face went blank. "Moze..I don't know...I really don't...how...it gotten." Mozenrath glared at her. Chroias grabbed her lovers hand. The skeletal one and held him back. "Mumluks." He called to the patrol passing the room. "Put her in the dungeon." "No!" Chroias called. "Mozenrath you can't be serious! Why in Hades name would she take the gauntlet?" Mozenrath pushed past his girlfriend." Put her in the dungeon. I'll be down later." Nefret's face paled. "Down for what?" she panicked. "What in the hell do you think you'll be coming down there for?" Mozenrath gave her a half pitying look. "I think you know perfectly well what a dungeon is for." he said with as cold a voice as possible. Chroias spun and grabbed Mozenrath. "Are you insane?? Mozenrath you can't do this. She was with me all last night! She couldn't have possibly gotten out." She pulled the sorcerer around to face her. "Mozenrath are you even listening to me?" she said franticly "Damn it Mozenrath...." Mozenrath turned and grabbed her chin. "Don't try me Chroias." he said in an almost disappointed voice. "Don't talk to me right now." he walked away.  
  
Chroias heard a sniggering voice in the corner as Mozenrath vanished from sight. She growled sharply as she tugged the curtain back to reveled a sniggering Xerxes. Eye's red and snarling, Chroias grabbed the plum tailed eel and wrenched his neck. "WHAT'S SO DAMN FUNNY?" Chapter 16 (by me)  
  
Chroias pulled open the heavy wooden door that lead to the holding cells. All lay empty and quiet, but for the very last one. There at the end of the dark, dank, musty room stood two undead guards at their post. They didn't seem to mind as the demoness approached, they were there mostly to keep a certain someone in her place. Roias looked, Nef was silent, almost frightenly silent. Her head tucked between her knees, her back convulsing in cries that she would not utter. "Nefret?" the red-eyed woman whispered. Nefret's head whipped up and she scrabbled to her feet flinging herself at the cell door. "I didn't do it! You know I didn't! I fell asleep right after you left." She pleaded her friend for acceptance. "I know, I know. I believe you." Chroias clawed hand reached between the bars to wipe away Nefret's tears, as the other woman had done for her once. Heavy footsteps sounded in the hall, growing increasingly louder. "Mozenrath is coming." Nef sighed. Chroias was about to open her mouth, but Nef walked away and sat on the bench. "Leave me. Leave Me!" Nef stopped Chroias from protesting. He woman hesitated a bit before slowly phasing away, but not to far. She was still with hearing distance. Mozenrath opened the dungeon door, pausing momentarily to swallow back his disappointment. Nefret turned her eyes to Mozenrath as he let himself into her cell, the mumluks closing the door behind him. She watched as he walked to stand before her in stony silence, he wrung this gauntleted hand. There was complete silence for a moment that stretched endlessly into the darkness. "I'm disappointed with you Nefret. I have always known you weren't as loyal as you could be, but.... I guess I misjudged your level of treachery." His eyes stared into hers. They sent her blood cold, all the friendship they had built between them was pushed back to a dull spark surrounded by cold resentment. "The only thing you misjudge, my lord, is the situation. I did not betray you!!!!! I did not! Look into my eyes. Look at me!" The corners of Mozenrath's mouth flexed a bit, but his face remained largely unchanged. "Do my cries land on deaf ears? Then do as you wish! But when you discover it was not I who took you gauntlet, I hope the guilt of what you have done eats away at you until the hour you die." Her last comment was strangely calm and comforted. Mozenrath reached into his collar and pulled out a familiar object. His fingers wondered over the shark's tooth with a hint of sadness. "You have given me life, I can't take yours. But you will not go unpunished. Tomorrow morning you will be exiled from the Land of the Black sand. You will be given nothing but the clothes on your back. You will be unable to enter Agrabah or set foot in Egypt, I will make sure of that. I don't ever want to see your face or hear your name again. Oh and Nefret?" She looked up at him just in time to see his raised hand come crashing down onto her face. The slap wasn't as hard as it could have been, but still left a stinging burn behind. He turned his back on her and left. As the door closed Mozenrath hear the pitcher of water hit the opposite side and shatter. An unearthly cry followed. Chroias fell behind her lover tying to get him to look at her. Xerxes slipped out of the cover of darkness and snickered. "Bye bye!" she hissed just as a hand shot out of the cell to grab him, but he managed to elude her grasp and continue on, beaming proudly all the way. Chapter 17 (by kalynn)  
  
Chroias grabbed Mozenrath's arm. "You can't be serious!' she shouted. "She's your best assistant." Mozenrath kept walking. "She's my best friend." The demon pulled her lover around and back till he was an inch from her face. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?' Mozenrath grabbed his girlfriend's hair. "Don't I mean anything to you?" Mozenrath pulled roughly on the green locks. "Chroias without my gauntlet I'll die. Literally!" He let her go. "I have to do this. Be glad I'm letting her live. Chroias wasn't satisfied. "What about everything she's done for you." Chroias felt the warm blood tears slip down her cheeks. "How can you be so cold." Mozenrath turned back around to look at her. "Chroias do not try me today. " "Oh like you care!" She hollered in his face. "That little eel means....." She stopped dead in the middle of her sentence. 'That little slimy bastard'  
  
Mozenrath looked at her curiously. "Means what?" Chroias looked up at her lovers face. "Nothing." Her voice turned silent. She turned and ran from the corridor. Mozenrath almost ran after her. "No let her cool off." he said out loud and to know one. Chroias however knew it would be a while before she would cool off. She winded her way down the dungeon steps and to Nefret's cell. "He did it." she said in an icy cold voice. Nefret sat up and walked over to the bars. "Who?" "That eel. That slimy perverted disgusting ass kissing eel!!!!" She shrieked. Her red eyes turned a deep crimson as her fangs seemed to grow. Her hands reached forward to rip the bars from their holes. Another howl echoed in the dungeon as the shock of anti-magic ripped through her system.  
  
Nefret took her friends hand in hers. "It won't do us any good to rip at them. You have to find a way to prove Xerxes did it." Nefret "And how do you propose I do that?" she asked. "The slimy little shit isn't a genius but he knows enough not to leave a clue behind." Nefret shrugged. "I don't know but if your gonna do it you'd better do it fast. I only have five hours before sun up. And exile from everyone and everything is not my idea of a vacation." Chroias smiled at her friends attempt to keep humor in her voice. "I'd better start now." she turned to go. "Nefret." The plum haired girl looked up momentarily. "I know...this isn't much of an offer. And I doubt you'd take it. But....if this doesn't work...I mean if I can't prove that Xerxes did it..... I would love it...if...if ...if you'd come and stay with me for a while." Chroias connected eyes with her friend. "I know Tarturus isn't exactly the way one would imagine spending the rest of their lives, but we do have the Elisyian fields. And they would suite you just fine." Chroias smiled. "Just in consideration." Chapter 18 (by me)  
  
Evening was closing fast in the Land of the Black Sand and, though she thought and plotted, Chroias failed to come up with any plan or any evidence by the time night fell. Mozenrath had been largely unavailable, 'he's no doubt stocking around some where with that damned hell bound eel!' Roias growled lowly as she an image of that smart-alecky, bulgy eyed face flashed in her mind. She could just throttle till his eyes popped out of his head. But sadly that wouldn't help the situation any, maybe make her feel better, but nothing else was likely to change. Night was falling fast outside Chroias window when a wonderfully simple plan formed in her mind. But it would have to wait a while, she knew by now Mozenrath would be in bed, and Xerxes had undoubtedly followed. In her own bed, Roias's plan was becoming more and more solid and complete. The only catch was that Nefret would first have to be exiled and she would have to find somewhere to stay while she waited for just the right time to spring her plan. She knew just the place. Morning dawned misty and gray, small rays of filthy looking light streamed through the small high window in Nef's cell waking her. 'Nothing good could come of a morning like this' Nefret moaned silently to herself as the cell door was opened and two mumluks approached her. They grabbed her forearms, but Nef wasn't one to be dragged, and she fought herself free to walk on her own two feet. It was a long ride from the Citadel to the edge of Mozenrath's kingdom. Nef was bumped and jostled in the back of the chariot, but finally saw the horizon go from black to tan colored sand, and at the junction stood Mozenrath, Chroias and Xerxes. The sorcerer was silent as his assistant alighted her transport and faced him. Mozenrath bent down and undid her anklet with a special combination of moves only he knew. He stood and held out his hand, Chroias thought she sensed a hint of sadness, or perhaps disappointment in his eyes. With an ice-princess look Nef pulled the ring off her finger and dropped it in his hand. The set of Mozenrath's jaw told the girl there was nothing more to talk about and she turned to go. But not before looking to Chroias, no words passed between them, they weren't needed, her expression said it all. 'I'm sorry, but I'll make it right. You know where to go.' And in that moment she did, and she knew her friend would be sure to get her there. The 3 remaining residents of the Land of the Black Sand watched until Nefret was nothing more than a speck on the horizon, before Mozenrath whipped up his cloak taking them all home minus one. A few moments later Nef also left the desert, phasing out and appearing in the Elisyian fields. "Thanks Roias" She whispered. It was late when Chroias rapped on Mozenrath's chamber door. He had expected her to be rather mad at him, but as he opened the door he was greeted by a warm smile. "Are we feeling a bit better?" He inquired of his lover. "Yes, a bit. You did what you thought you had to do. But right now I have something else I want you to do." Her eyes flashed. "And I bet I know what it is." He chuckled ruefully. "You might be surprised." She laughed back as she entered the room and he closed the door behind her. Another morning dawned, slightly more cheerful than the last. A certain green-haired woman practically skipped into the dinning hall startling Xerxes who was waiting for everyone to join him for breakfast. The eel eyed her uncertainly, Chroias was all dolled up and her face was plastered in a broad grin. She looked all too happy. "Where Master?" the eel hissed warily. "He'll be down shortly!" she answered in a sing-song voice. "Why you so happy?" He slithered around the back of the chair at the head of the table, Mozenrath's chair. "What's not to be happy about?" Her face was blank and Xerxes gave her a knowing stare. "Oh that! Like I said what's not to be happy about? What you thought I liked her? HA! That little minx thought she could weasel her way into my place. I was only being nice to get on her good side. After all it's so much easier to take some one's head off when they trust you not to do it." She explained happily. "I was going to get rid of her, but she did a decent job of that herself. Now I have him all to myself! Well almost." She added as her eyes fell upon the eel and flashed. Xerxes gulped, it seemed if he didn't want to share Nefret's intended fate he would have to make good with Chroias. "Want to know a secret?" He slithered to her and around her shoulder as she nodded. "It was me. I took gauntlet and got rid of her for US!" The last word proudly escaped his lips. "Than I owe you a great deal. Perhaps I was wrong about you, you could make a good ally. Now why don't you go see if breakfast is ready yet." As soon as he was out of sight Chroias cleared her throat loudly. At her signal Mozenrath appeared from just outside the door. "Get all that?" she inquired. He sighed deeply. "Every word." Chapter 19 (by kalynn)  
  
Chroias took Mozenrath's hand. "I told you he did it." she looked at her loves eyes. "I told you Nefret didn't do it." She made sure their eyes meet "I told you..." "All right all right!!!!" the sorcerer said in a slightly defeated voice. "He looked pointedly at Chroias. "Now where did you hide Nefret." Chroias blanched a moment. "Umm...." "Please you think I didn't know?" he swept up the demoness in his arms. "You are a demon by birth alone. And I know you view Nefret as a sister." he smiled. "I expected you would have a place set up for her." "Oh you little !!!" Chroias half snapped at him with her fangs. "And I went through all that trouble to hide it from you!!!' Mozenrath smiled gently at her. "I know I know. I am just too much sometimes." Chroias rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah way too much." She looked at where the eel had last stood. "And now what are going to do about lard lips?" Mozenrath's smile turned vindictive. "I believe the accused should have the joy of administering that particular punishment." Chroias smiled. "Ok but I think your going to have to do one thing." Mozenrath looked at her questioningly. Chroias smiled at him. "You'll see." she waved her arms and a dark green haze surrounded them. As Mozenrath opened his eyes he was sure he needed to blink again. A thousand books and descriptions of paradise could not have come close to actually saying that Elisyia looked like. Fruit trees and grassy meadows blanketed every corner. Anything a living or dead person could ever desired was at the beck and call. Mozenrath blinked. "If this is hell why do we need heaven?" Chroias laughed. "Hon this is the Greek version of Heaven. Basically their all the same, but depending on your belief you get to go to a different version of the same place." she shook her head. "Daddy just doesn't understand why I spend most of my time here...." she nodded in a southern direction. "Instead of there." Mozenrath turned around and immediately wished he hadn't. He decided to put what he had just seen directly out of his mind, other wise he might quit being a sorcerer, or at least an evil one. "So umm where is Nefret." he said trying to regain composure after what he'd just seen. Chroias pulled a map seemingly from nowhere. "Huummmm! She's Egyptian so she should be over in Anubis's sector." she pointed to a mark on the map with a Jackals head. "I just hope he hasn't mistaken her for one of the dead and decided to weigh her heart." An almost panicked look took over Mozenrath's face as Chroias laughed. "Moze I'm kidding. I sent her down here with some of my best people. Anubis knows me to well to even think about messing with one of my buddies." Mozenrath walked along the floor. "Now don't eat anything." she said as he began to pluck a ripe pomegranate from a tree. "I managed to get Nefret special permission to eat and dink the food of the dead. But if you do it you'll never be allowed to leave." she looked back behind her. "And with what you did during life I doubt daddy will let you stay in Elisyium." she smiled as Mozenrath shuddered. "AHHA there she is!" she called out as Nefret came into view. Mozenrath gulped. "Well I certainly didn't expect her to be enjoying herself this much." Oh Nefret seemed to be enjoying herself all right. She had arrived to find out that as Chroias's privet guest she got the, shall we say, royal treatment. Her clothing had changed considerably. The simple white and teal clothing had now a gold and green color, and Mozenrath was with out a doubt that they were completely gold. She didn't seem particularly unpleased be the 'gentlemen' servants that were adhering to her every whim. And none of them could be considered less than gorgeous. One of the most handsome ones was serving her peeled grapes from a silver platter. Mozenrath gulped as Chroias nudged him forward. "I think you'd better ask real nice Mozey I could arrange for her permanent retirement here." Chapter 20 (by me)  
  
Nefret shifted her weight in the overstuffed couch and happily let one of her attendants pop another grape into her mouth. All right, maybe she was over doing it a bit. But hey why the hell not? In her short stay she had found heaven quite agreeable. She had been treated like the priestess she was, something she had been denied the last few years, come to think of it she was more on the level of royalty here! "Damn Chroias has good connections!" She sighed blissfully. "Glad your enjoying her hospitality." A familiar voice resonated in her ears. Nef looked up rather surprised to meet the pale face of her former lord. In that moment several emotions coursed through her veins. The first being something like relief and happiness, then next was most defiantly anger, and the third was something like a pit in her stomach that came with the realization that this could mean the end of her stay in heaven. Mozenrath emotions where a bit harder to read, as always his face was locked in cool disinterest, but it was only a thin mask concealing something that seemed very much like sheepishness. Nef laughed inwardly, she had never seen her lord show much emotion about anything, but somehow with Roias around he was easier to read. "Somehow this doesn't seem like much of a punishment." He turned to the demoness a bit. "Well I'm guessing, by the fact that you're here when your exact words where 'I don't want to see you face or hear your name again', that you've acquitted me?" Mozenrath's lips twitched and there was a tick above his eyebrow, he hated when he was caught in a mistake. "Yes, I'm having a wonderful time. I'd like you to meet my two shawabits, tutmose and hotep! They've been very kind. Would you them to serve you something, a grape, wine, humble pie?" The girls and the servants chuckled. "Alright! So you're innocent! Can we go now!" his face was becoming red, more of anger than embarrassment. Nef's face fell blank and her mouth formed a perfect O. "Go?" she repeated trying to sound rather dumb. Mozenrath's pallor when to a rather grayish white. He was hoping this would head in a different direction, but it was fast heading into a frontier he didn't want to set foot in. "Yes, go. Go home, where you belong." He tried his best to sound cool, but he knew what was coming and he looked to Chroias for help. Her expression told him he would get none. "Uh huh, don't think so. I'm in exile. And I think I've found a new home!" With that she popped a grape into her mouth, secretly wondering how far she could milk this. "Need I remind you of your contract?" His voice rose a bit. Chroias, who seemed to have a habit of producing thing from thin air, handed him the scroll for reference. "No, you need not. I remember. Hand me that will you?" He did and she began searching the lines of Arabic. "I hereby surrender my services blah blah blah.." She muttered. "Oh here it is! I am resigned to Mozenrath for 20 years, or until the event my body no longer romes the land of the living." She pointed out the line of text as she read. Mozenrath silently cursed himself for being so damned poetic. Why couldn't he just said 'until I die'! Nef rewound the scroll and with a flick of her wrist offered it back to him with a now-what-are-you-going-to-do face. Mozenrath gulped and again looked to his love and was meet with nothing more than a smirk. "So you wish to stay here?" He inquired; her face remained blank and indecisive. He sighed slowly knowing his worst fears were coming true, he might have to say the dreaded 'P' word. "Nefret, you have an entire afterlife to enjoy this place, but for now come home." "Why?" "Because you're needed at the Citadel." He growled in admittance sitting down. She seemed unimpressed. "Come back. please." The last word was hardly but a harsh raking sound as he forced it through clenched teeth. "What? I can't understand you when you grind your teeth like a cow!" "I said... I want you to came home PLEASE." He pronounced the words deathly clear. "Well..." she gave Chroias a playful look. "Okay. You only had to ask nicely." The girls beamed happily as Mozenrath collapsed against the back of the couch looking a bit ashen. ------------------------ Xerxes returned the dinning hall followed by several mumluks bearing trays of fruit, wine, bread and cheese. A sort of celebration feast for him and Chroias the eel figured. But the hall was empty, as was the rest of the Citadel he soon discovered. The only thing missing was the preverbal tumbleweed bouncing its way through the halls. Something made Xerxes gray skin crawl as he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. They were dotted with the click of claws and sparsely sprinkled barks. The eel knew that noise very well, it was the sound of Anubis greeting his owner. Cautiously he edged one eye around the corner. The sight made the pit in his stomach grow heavy and hard. His master was walking with one arm around Chroias and his grin was cast upon his newly recontracted assistant. 


	3. Patron3

Patron Part 3 Previously: Chroias, Mozenrath's girlfriend, accompanies Moze and Nefret to Agrabah where they fight with Aladdin. The battle strengthens Nefret's and Chroias's friendship. Seeing that the girls had become friends and that his master now has both the girls, Xerxes became jealous. He stole the gauntlet and framed Nefret. Nef was banished, But Chroias uncovered the treachery of Xerxes and she and Mozenrath headed to the Elision fields (where Chroias hide Nefret) and asked her to come home. Now they go back to the Citadel to confront an unsuspecting Xerxes.. Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content. Chapter 21 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias cast a dark look at the eel that was evenly mimicked by Nefret. Mozenrath himself had to admit the two looked scary. Nefret nodded to Chroias and they snatched the eel before he could make it any further. "All right you little no winged viper, you thought you were going to get away with it didn't you?" Chroias hissed in his face. Nefret snatched up the eel. "You know Xerxes I never thought you could betray Mozenrath like that? I mean sure I don't always agree with his plans for world domination and subjecting the world to his tyranny, but I'd never pull something like that!" The little eel gazed up at his master. "Master can no believe. Nefret betray you. Chroias betray you. Both lie..." The gray creature screeched as Mozenrath slapped him to the floor. "Xerxes how could you do this to me?" he said in a voice that betrayed his emotionless face. "I can't believe you would back stab me so hard." Chroias snatched up the slimy thing. "Well as we say in Tarturus the punishment should fit the crime." She slapped a cage around the eel. "And since Nefret was punished she should fit your crime." The plum haired girl turned to Mozenrath for confirmation. He nodded to say he had already agreed to this arrangement. "All right Xerxes. You and I have never liked each other. In fact when I first got here you called me a tramp." "He called you what?" Chroias said fangs barred. Nefret waved her off. "But after this I think even your master agrees that you have to be punished. " she bowed her head slightly "So the punishment is...." Chapter 22 (by me, Laura)  
  
Nefret raised her head and looked over the bridge of her nose. The eel's eyes were as wide as saucers. He had a good idea of what was coming next, and it involved a chopping block, an axe, and his head. But her next words strayed from his imagination. ".Banishment from the Land of the Black Sand." Xerxes breath caught in his throat, technically the sentence was less than death, but for him it might as well have been the highest punishment. Out of the corner of her eye Nef caught the flash of her master's throat has he gulped. A pang of guilt stung her mind. Even though Mozenrath was furious at his familiar now, she knew they had been a team for a while. He had been here when she had come to serve Mozenrath, and who knows how long before then. The punishment she had just handed down would affect her master as well as that slimy basterd. With another breath she continued. "You will spend the night in the dungeon and at dawn you will be exiled for the next 18 years!" She had picked that number because by that time she would have served her 20 years and she would never have to see him again. Everyone looked over a bit taken back. "Are you sure you don't want him eternally." The demon began to speak. "I have made my decision!" Nefret snapped a bit to harshly. Xerxes looked to his master for help. "Master, I no betray YOU!" He hollered pleading for mercy but admitting to his guilt at the same time. "You can't let girl make your choice!" Mozenrath face was as dark and hard as stone. "Nefret belongs to me, she is mine. You betray her, and your betraying ME! You just better be grateful she was merciful. I'm my opinion she was to lenient." He looked at Nefret, but she was already on her way down the hall, Chroias closely following. With a wave of his hand the cage containing the eel was chartered off by a mumluck, and the sorcerer headed to his room to retrieve a few things. Nef had changed from her elaborate golden robes to her normal outfit and Chroias was helping her remove the jewelry she was given while in heaven. They promptly disappeared in a poof of smoke, heading to wherever they came from. A small knock came at the door and Mozenrath walked in. Nefret looked up with a small grin. "I hadn't expected my room to be here. I figured you would have destroyed all my things in a fit of rage." She and Roias laughed. "That was scheduled for this evening." He mused. He looked back up to see an is-there-something-you-wanted face on both the girls. He held up the anklet in silent reply. A heavy click rang out and Nef scowled a bit as her anklet was snapped around her ankle once more. "Welcome back!" Mozenrath chuckled knowing what she was thinking. Nef's tongue was about to make an appearance out of her mouth, but she stopped herself as her lord produced her ring from his cloak. It slipped back to it's home on her pinky and she smiled, happy to have it back. Chroias and Mozenrath looked at each other and smiled a bit. "Sometimes minions are more trouble than there're worth." He sighed. This time Nefret didn't hold back and stuck out her tongue, but, fortunately for her, Mozenrath had already turned his back and was walking out the door. Xerxes Hissed to himself in his cell. He couldn't believe his master had let Nefret banish him. She was his underling, and he was allowing her to hand out sentences like she owned the place!!!! Well it seemed his master had gone a bit soft, and had been ever since his girlfriend had arrived. The sour thoughts left a bad taste in his mouth. But he wasn't without defenses. He would retaliate; he would do exactly what he was accused of if that's what it took. After all, he knew Mozenrath more than anyone else, all his strengths and weaknesses, everything! Chapter 23 (by Kalynn)  
  
Xerxes rattled the bars of his cage. Oh what he was goona do when he got outa here! Those little brat's were gonna get it. 'But who I tell' he mused to himself. "Tell hero." he said aloud and twitched around to see who was watching. "Tell hero all master's weakness. Hero come and crush master, crush Nefret, crush Chroias. Xerxes laugh." He sat at the bottom of the cage after this unusually complicated speech, a content smile on his lard- lipped face. Chroias hugged her friend once they were out of Mozenrath's site." Oh God's and hell fire do you know how much I missed you?" she said in a single breath of air. The plum haired girl returned her friends hug. "You could have kept the jewelry you know." she said softly. Nefret laughed. "I would have rather kept the servants." she winked as Chroias busted out laughing. "Hay looks like your not such a goodie two shoes after all." Chroias placed a comradely hand on her shoulder. "I guess that answers the virgin question." Nefret let out a half indignant half embarrassed scream and began chasing Chroias down the halls of the Citadel. Unfortunately they took a wrong turn and collided straight with Mozenrath. The sorcerer toppled over in a flurried of robes and 'oufed' gently when Nef and Chroias tumbled on top of him. The two girls laughed loudly and Chroias planted a gentle kiss on Mozenrath's lips. "Hi love." she said softly as Nefret picked her self up from the tangle. "Hello." he said in a slightly distant voice. "Didn't I mention something about you two not running around the hall." "Hello do we look thirteen?" Nefret said in her typical sarcastic voice. " I mean yes daddy." she said in a girlish voice as Mozenrath shot her a withering look. Chroias kissed Mozenrath again before his mouth had a chance to retort. He growled gently as she finished and stalked off. Nefret walked up to her friend and gave her a quizzical look. "God's I didn't know Xerxes meant that much to him." she said softly. "They were together almost before I was here." Chroias said. "I almost hate to do this to them. Besides me, he's the only one who knows what Destain's real tortures were." Nefret gave her another questioning look. Chroias glanced behind her to see if Mozenrath was away. "Here." she handed Nefret a black hardcover book with gold bindings. "Admittance" Nefret said out loud. "It technically hasn't even been written yet." Chroias said cautiously. "So I shouldn't really show it to you." She gave the book a pitying glance. "But it's the only way you can ever truly understand." Nefret nodded and took it. "I'll read it tonight." She began to walk away. Chroias stopped her. "Nefret, you can never ever tell Mozenrath about this book. Never." She pressed her nail gently to her friend. "He doesn't even know he's going to live this long. Or that he has it in him to forgive the things in this book. If he isn't allowed to discover it for himself, he might end up nothing more than a hopeless old man, with nothing but sad memories." The demon touched the book closely. "This," she said with finality. "This book will be his last chance at Elisyium." Nefret nodded, realizing the intensity of the situation. "I swear he'll never realize it was here." she hugged her friend and the two retreated for the night. Chapter 24 (by me)  
  
It was well past midnight, and the citadel was quite, even Xerxes had fallen into a restless sleep in his cell. Everyone was safely away in slumber, everyone that is but Nefret. She was past the point of getting any rest this night. It had been a few hours ago she had started the book. The first of is was things she already knew, Mirage was his mother, he became Destain's apprentice and was mistreated. But after that, oh sweet Hathor! A few times she had flung the book away was if it were a rearing cobra, but she had forced herself to the end. But only because Chroias seemed to feel she needed to know. Now she stood bracing herself at her dressing table, her heart was racing and her shoulders trembled. In the mirror she could see the black kohl had melted under her burning hot tears and now ran in sooty streaks down her face. Her shaking hands brought a wet cloth over her face. 'I never.never knew. He had mentioned... that one mumluk he is Destian, he is the man from the book. I saw him everyday and never...It happened right here, in this Citadel, in these very halls, in these rooms." She reared her head up shaking it violently, half because she realized she couldn't breath though the cloth, and half trying to shake her jumbled thoughts away. She looked desperately to her chamber door. 'I shouldn't... But I cant be alone right now..I just CAN'T!" Chroias was having a very good dream, and it has to be said that Nef's servants made an appearance, when her eyes cracked open. Had she heard something? She listened intently and it came again, a small timid knock. Behind the door Roias found Nef. She was quaking slightly and her head was downcast, but the demon could tell she had been crying. "Chroias?" But her voice failed her. With an understanding smile Roias pulled her in the room and set her down on the ottoman. "I didn't know it would upset you so much." She wiped away some stubborn kohl that had refused to come clean when Nef washed her face. "You think I'm heartless?" She was a bit angry but then dropped her head away. "You must think I hate Mozenrath cause of the way I treat him. I'm always cutting him short and spouting off sarcastic comments. But had I know... this!" She gestured with her arms as if all of Mozenrath's past were in front of her, which was how she felt. "I know. I know you don't hate him. But you can't treat him differently now, he might get suspicious." "Ha, don't worry. I don't think I even know how to treat him any other way." She was silent for a moment. "Roias, will he really live that long? Will he really...?" "He will live for longer than you can think ahead, and will see things you can't begin to imagine. And yes he will watch Aladdin die, and you for that matter. Agrabah will fall and other nations will rise in its place, leaders will come and go, wars will start and finish, but he shall endure." Nef looked at her friend with narrowing eyes. "Yes, because of the sharks tooth." "Do you think I did him more of a disservice and a favor? He has so much pain, should he really have to carry it that long?" Nefret was suddenly worried. "In the end he will forgive, and that makes a thousand lifetimes of pain worth it." By the time she fished the sentence, Nef had fallen asleep slumped on the ottoman. An extra blanket was thrown over he before Chroias returned to bed. The sun was mounting in the sky burning off the pre-morning mists as the three figures stood near the border of Mozenrath's domain. The cage was tossed heavily onto the desert floor while the eel hissed angrily. A pit weighed heavily in Nefret's stomach, this scene was all to familiar, but at least she wasn't on the receiving end this time. Second thought's had been nipping at her all morning. 'An eye for an eye' she repeated to herself, but she still hated to break up he lord and his pet, especially after the information she had been privileged to last night. The situation played out just as it had a few days before, no words were exchanged as the cage was open and Xerxes slowly swam away. "Mozenrath, if you want to stop him, go now. I'll understand." Nefret looked to her lord, but he didn't take his eyes away from the horizon. He slowly shook his head. "Then. if he learns his lesson he can come back. I give it 6 months." Her voice turned brisk and Mozenrath struggled to hide the slight grin that was tugging at his lips. "Yeah your welcome." She grumbled. If it hadn't been for the damn sympathy she now felt for Mozenrath that eel would be in BIG trouble! Xerxes swam slower and slower until he had come to a dead stop, slowly doubling back to look behind. Mozenrath, Chroias, and Nefret had disappeared. His hideous face was graced by an equally hideous expression. Mozenrath was a power hungry man, and nearly all of his power had once belonged to someone else. And it was a given that none of the former owners were very pleased with their loss. He had made many enemies in his years, and even his own mother wasn't very fond of him, but the question now was which one to go to! Mirage? Kartom? The Sprites? Hadim? Aladdin? All of the above? Aladdin seemed the most logical choice, he had taken in Jafar's parrot after all. But would he be willing to ruthlessly crush Mozenrath? And if he were, would he be willing to take out Nefret and Chroias as well? Perhaps so if Xerxes told the right story. And if this fell through the eel could list at least 5 other people he could go to, and that was just off the top of his head! With a slight snicker the sand eel picked his first course of action, heading to the sparkling city of Agrabah. Chapter 25 (by kalynn)  
  
Nefret watched Mozenrath sulk across the throne room. She turned to Chroias and the demoness nodded. She had no love for the eel either, but he had been a big part of her lovers life. "I do feel kinda bad about this." Nefret said in a low voice. Chroias rolled her eyes. Nefret was a dear friend and a great gal, but she had absolutely no stomach for the more ruthless aspects of revenge. "I know." she said in an attempt to be sympathetic. " Moze isn't happy about it either. I think it's time for me to pay him a little night time visit." she cooed and smiled seductively. Nefret punched her lightly in the arm. "God is that all you ever think about?" she said loudly. "Hay you try going celibate for a centuries and see how chipper you are when you get out!" Chroias nicked the marble of the wall with a claw. "I have Mozenrath and every opportunity. I'm gonna use it." Nefret shook her head. At least talking to her friend would take her mind off Xerxes. _________________ The little eels mind, unfortunately was far from being off Nefret and Chroias. He grinned as he saw the towers of Agrabah palace above the sand dunes. Grinning, he shot off for the palace. _________________ Mozenrath sank down into his tub. He hadn't had the opportunity for a hot bath since bringing Nefret back. And the underworld left an unpleasant chill behind that sunk right through to his bones. He submerged his head momentarily and let his hair soak. He pulled back up and began to search absently for the washrag nearby. The water in his eyes prevented him from seeing it. Suddenly his hand touched cloth and he whipped the wetness from his eyes. Of course the sight that meet him as he opened his eyes was,.... stunning to say the least. His moth hung open for a split second before he found the words. "Chr...Chroias." His eyes moved up and down her long body. "I umm! I wasn't expecting you.." The demoness placed a long claw delicately on his lips. "Shhhhh." she whispered. "Just relax." Mozenrath decided he couldn't be possibly more...tense. _____________________ Xerxes flew past the guards gripping hands and up to the hero's arm. Immediately a sword meet his air. "I don't know what Mozenrath's plot is this time. But your not going to be around to set it off." Aladdin sliced the air above the eel. Xerxes screeched and dodged. "No no plan, no trap. Xerxes here to help." the eel confessed. "Mozenrath betray Xerxes, kick Xerxes out. No have home." He thought before adding the next part. "Xerxes no have friend." he said in the most pathetic voice possible. Aladdin paused his attack and waved off Jasmine who had been preparing to strike behind the eel. "What do you mean Mozenrath betray?" If he hadn't been playing a part Xerxes would have smiled. The hero couldn't have been more cooperative. __________________ Mozenrath looked at the sleeping figure beside him in the bed. She had fallen asleep at least a hour ago, but his thought's kept him awake. And his thought's weren't on his lost familiar either. They were more on loyalty, and commitment. Life time commitments to be more specific. He pushed a stray green hair from out of Chroias's pale face. She moaned slightly and pulled Mozenrath closer to her. He sighed as the warmth from her body sank into his. 'I do love her don't I?' he questioned himself. 'I mean you don't spend seven years with a person you don't at least have extremes affection for.' Mozenrath, for the first time in a long time, very unsure of himself. ______________________ Nefret sighed and looked at the book again. The gold words Admittance stared out at her in a moonlight shining. She had promised never to tell anyone about the contents of that book. 'But there are people who could help him.' she sighed . Her faithful dog Anubis sensed his mistress's frustration and rubbed his wet nose against her hand. Nefret hugged him gently. 'Would anyone be able to survive under such conditions?' She mused. 'If Mozenrath had grown up different would things really be any better?' She had heard in the temple that the God's had their own purpose and everything happened for a reason. 'What could possibly be the reason for this?' Chapter 26 (by me)  
  
Aladdin listened intently to Xerxes. It would be impossible to retell his tale word for word, verbatim, just as it was hard to fully understand. Xerxes never did have a gift for conversation. But it went something like this. Mozenrath's girlfriend had moved in and she and Nefret had united. United in a plot to combine their separate forces in order to help Mozenrath. However the eel had misgivings about the plan, and expressed as much. Seeing his power to pursued his master the two girls turned against and framed him. Now Xerxes could see his master's ruthless nature for what it truly was, evil. And having nowhere to turn he came to Agrabah. "Help hero make right." The eel added as sincerely as he could. It took all his self-control to keep his lips from turning up into a smile. He could tell by the look on Aladdin's face his that he had fallen for the tale hook line and sinker! The eel was feeling quite proud of himself, it had taken all of his smarts (such as they were) to come up with that story, and the hero was always a sucker for a sad tale. "I know Citadel, know avoiding traps, magic sensing lights. Know MOZENRATH!" He hissed. With a rather thoughtful nod Aladdin looked to Jasmine for confirmation. She still wasn't completely convinced, but enough so to give it a chance. ~~~ Mozenrath pulled himself out of bed, careful not to wake Chroias as he untangled himself from her arms. He was still feeling a bit depressed about the loss of his pet, but Chroias had managed to relieve some of that sadness. Soft footsteps echoed off the walls as Mozenrath made his way down the hall to the study. He stopped in the doorway when he saw the room was occupied. Nefret sat singing quietly to herself as she flipped through the Citadel accounts. His minion looked up abruptly as the sound of Mozenrath footsteps reached her ears. "Good morning my lord. Were is Roias?" she added stretching her neck to the side to look over his shoulder. "She's still asleep." He entered to room continuing as he walked. "Your up early. What are you up to?" "What you enlisted me to do." She returned her eyes back to her work. "Thing have been rather... busy lately and I've fallen behind. I've made sure breakfast is ready." Mozenrath seemed a bit surprised, she was actually being...rather nice. He decided not to say anything, after all who knows how long this mood might last! "I'll have breakfast sent up to Roias, she must be very tired after her exertions." Nefret added. Mozenrath rolled his eyes, he knew it wouldn't last long! Anubis trotted up to Mozenrath, his tongue lulling out the side of his jaw. The dog was large, and even beside Mozenrath he came to about mid hip. Moze absentmindedly ran his hand over the dog's head. "Well, after you finish come and eat. Get away from me dog." He added as he turned away, but not before giving Anubis a firm pat on the neck. ~~~ Aladdin and the usual gang stood hesitantly at the border of Mozenrath's kingdom. Impatiently Xerxes swam head, doubling back to give them a hurried glace. With a deep breath Al planted a foot heavily into the black sand, and the other fell in behind him. So, they were heading into another confrontation with the hero's most deadly enemy, but this time they had help. A former insider who knew all the tricks, traps, and most importantly knew the mind of the sorcerer himself. Chapter 27 (by kalynn)  
  
Aladdin glanced up at their gray compadrea. He still didn't trust the little creature, in fact he didn't really want to come to the Citadel at all. He had never faced a pure blooded demon before and had absolutely no idea how to react if she were to get rowdy. Being street born, Aladdin had a natural mistrust of things he didn't know. "How much fur..." "Shuuh!" Xerxes said in a loud whisper. "In Mozenrath's throne room. Most traps here. Step only on black panels. "He said and motioned to the floor. The black panels were sunken in slightly from the display area. Aladdin nodded and motioned to Jasmine. His foot tapped one of the black tiles. The princess nodded to show she got the message. _____________________ Nefret sat munching on a falafel while to demoness and Mozenrath seemed to be intently talking about something. She had already leaned in as close as possible in an attempt to hear the conversation, but a harsh look from her master said she wasn't allowed to get any closer. Of course this only infuriated her. She hated not knowing what was going on and hated even more when she knew that at least one of the two things they were talking about was something she didn't really want to know. And when Mozenrath placed a hand on his girlfriend's waist, she got a pretty good idea as to what they were speaking of. For a split second Nefret found herself thinking about Aladdin. Then she dismissed the idea quickly. True she was a little lonely for male companionship, but not enough to let those thoughts and emotions dominate her. Anubis sat gently beside his lady. Suddenly his ears shot straight up and his body tensed. "What is it Anubis?" Nefret asked quietly. A low deadly growl emerged from his throat, catching both Chroias and Mozenrath's attention. "What's the matter with him?" Chroias asked and gave the dog a friendly pat on the head. Anubis jumped up and made a swift pointing motion to the door.  
  
"Someone's coming." Mozenrath let his gauntlet flare up. The doors flung open to reveal both Aladdin Jasmine, and a triumphant looking Xerxes. "There there." the eel shrieked as he pointed to the sorcerer. Aladdin nodded as Jasmine withdrew an odd looking implement from her clothing. Nefret heard a gasp from behind her. Fear was evident on both Mozenrath and Chroias's faces. "What is it?" Nefret questioned. All she could see was a glowing. Chroias was the first to find her wits. "It.. It's a Cryptic!!" She screamed. Chapter 28 (by me)  
  
"A Crywhatic?" Nefret's face twisted into fear as she turned around. Chroias was unable to answer. The faint glow of the Cryiptic had enveloped her master and chrioas and they seemed ravaged in pain. Aladdin's genie had taken refuge behind a wall with the label "Anti anti-magic barrier" smacked on it. A sudden ach made Nefret look down. Her own hand was glowing and throbbing in burning pain. She ripped the ring from her finger and flung it away, but unfortunately Mozenrath and Roias could not dispose of their magical power as easily. A small thread of mist was flowing slowly out of both Mozenrath and his demoness, and she know exactly what that was, their essence. The smoky fingers reaching out desperately to the power hungry Cryipitic. "No." she whispered to herself suddenly realizing what this... thing was going to do. Steal their souls! "Anubis attack!!" she ordered and the hound obeyed. Jasmine screamed and tossed the Cryiptic to Aladdin. The dog doubled back on itself and leapt at the hero, a blur of jaws and raw power. But he was able to fend Anubis off with a well-timed swing. A heart- wrenching yelp rang out as he crashed onto the table, sending the breakfast meal flying in all directions. Infuriated Nefret charged Aladdin hitting him head on before he had a chance to act. Nefret landed on top of him several feet away where she desperately wrestled him for the strange artifact that was killing her friends. But each time Aladdin was able to elude her grasping hands. Xerxes watched from behind a column as the misty treads snaked their way to the two people fighting on the floor. Aladdin forced a bent leg under Nefret and placed his foot on her stomach. Swiftly he extended it, throwing her backwards, but not before she grasped for the item in his hand with one last desperate reach. Nefret hit the wall with a sickening crack and a gasp as the air was forced out of her body. She soon realized that cracking sound had been one of her ribs breaking as the dull throbbing made itself known. Aladdin sat up and looked down at his hands, his empty hands. With a slight smile Nefret lifted her arm and opened her fist to proudly display what she now had. "Nefret.don't. Please don't Nef." He pleaded. This was his greatest opportunity to rid himself and the world of the sorcerer. Nefret suddenly turned dark. "Forgive me Aladdin, but this is one thing I can't let you do. Not to Mozenrath, and not to Roias. And especially not all because of Xerxes" "No." he whispered slightly edging toward her. "You don't have to do this. They aren't your friends! Just come to me and everything will be fine." He breathed reassuringly, as if he was speaking to a scared child. She shook her head seriously and raised her arm, the muscles tightening like an over coiled spring. The she released, her arm shooting down. There was a cracking, akin to the sound of a breaking egg, as the Cryiptic smashed into the ground under the heavy pressure of Nefret's forcing hand. All were silence of a moment, and the only sound was that of the artifact slowly cracking. A thin spider's web of fractures marred the surface, growing at an ever increasing rate, until it was too much and the Cryiptic burst and laid open like a flower in bloom just as Mozenrath's and Chroias's smoky essence reached it. The treads reared back as if surprised that the voice that had been so sweetly calling for them to join it was gone. Then they coiled around in a long column before shooting back to their owners. Both Mozenrath and Chroias drew an audible breath as their souls returned to them. Mozenrath looked around a bit dazed. Everything around him seemed far away, like watching it from another room. Aladdin was kneeling on the ground, Jasmine standing beside him. The genie was still behind some kind of shelter, and Xerxes was huddled behind a column. Nefret was slumped against a wall holding her side with a dejected looking Anubis resting his head in her lap. Chroias was beside him, seemingly in the same state he was. All in all everyone looked a bit worse than they had the last time he saw them. Chroias was also regaining her senses and it was becoming quite apparent to her what had transpired while she was out. Both raised themselves off the ground and glared at the heroes. "We're in trouble." Aladdin informed his group as his face paled a bit. Chapter 29 (By Kalynn)  
  
A low, unearthly growl emerged from the demoness's gullet. Her eyes began to glow a dark bloody red as her hair fanned out from behind her. Her tail gave a sadistic twitch back and forward. "Just who do you think you are hero?" Her voice had a whispery wind like quality to it. As though she was just barely controlling her temper. "Do you have any idea exactly what that would have done to us?" Her lips pulled back in a fearsome snarl. Her clawed fist shot out and snatched the hero's wrist. "This is what it would have done!" she screamed as her magic made the hero's body turn green. Aladdin felt the pain before he actually was able to get it. White-hot burning power ripped through his body, he screamed. Jasmine didn't hesitate; she slammed full strength into the demon. Aladdin felt the presence let him go and slumped to the floor. "I don't know who you think you are, but that happens to be my husband." she snapped her whip out. Chroias rolled out from under the royal pain. "Oh another girl with a thing for leather." she mocked. A twist of her wrist and a long bullwhip made a long overdue appearance. "Shall we dance." she growled. Mozenrath barely managed to lift himself from the floor when he saw Nefret. Her head was slumped painfully against the cold marble, and a small caught on her part showed she was bleeding internally. With a quick look to see how his girlfriend was doing against the hero, Mozenrath pulled Nefret over to him. "Nef. Nef." he whispered. Her expressive eyes opened. Her faithful dog Anubis whimpered as she tried to speak. "I... Moze the crystal." "It's ok you destroyed it." The sorcerer looked up at the dog. "Guard her." he said in a low unnecessary threatening voice. Anubis would have been prepared to guard her regardless of Mozenrath ordering him so. Mozenrath walked calmly over to Aladdin. The hero was just managing to pull himself to his feet as a large black boot planted it's self in to his side. "Well hello Al. How have you been." He noticed a familiar shape flying about. "You!!!." he called as Xerxes giggled nervously. "And to think I even felt sorry about banishing you!" He screamed. Suddenly Jasmine stopped fighting. "Huh?" Unfortunately her astonishment stopped her from avoiding the right hook from Chroias. The hell bread punch landed directly on the princess's jowl. The princess went sprawling and landed on the cold floor. "DAMN!!" Chroias said licking the small lash that Jasmine's whip had given her." Haven't had a fight like that in at least a decade." She glanced over at what Mozenrath was looking at. "HIM!" she called out. A bolt of pure green hell fire shot out at the eel. "I can't believe you have the gall to show up here after what you did!!!" She hurled another blaze at the eel. "I'll roast you straight down into the pit of blaze!!" Nefret coughed again and Chroias finally seemed to notice how her friend was. "Oh by the Olympians!" she forgot about the eel for a split second. "Nefret?" she asked to see if her friend was ok. She gently lifted the plum haired head and stroked a lush curl from the face. "Nef you ok?" Anubis whined again beside her. "Nef?" The beautiful eyes were closed. "No! DAMN IT NO!" she said, "It can't be possible!" Mozenrath looked paler than usual. "She ..Tell me she isn't?" "No not by a long shot." Chroias opened one of the eyes. "She in a magicoma." Aladdin finally rose from the floor. "A what?" "A magicoma. That Cryiptic had so much force in it when it exploded it shoved her into a semi conscious state. I can make a mind connection with her, but we have to find the cure." she rubbed the tanned head. 'Nef' she pushed into the girls mind. 'Nef can you feel me' Chapter 30 (by me)  
  
The battle paused for a moment as everyone looked with bated breath to the demon and the young girl lying so perfectly still beside her. Chroias closed her blood hued eyes, and through them she could now see into her friends minds. It was an endless world of a rather dark shade of purple. Memories wafted around in small bouts of fog. Memories of her father, a strong and intelligent looking man. Memories of the temple and even some of the Citadel flowed through Nefret and Chroias in turn, all racing at the speed of light, and yet somehow entirely lucid. "Nef?" the demoness called intently. 'Roias is that you?' Came the answer much to Chroias's relief. 'Roias, what's going on? I was hurt and Mozenrath was by me, then.. then I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I was alone, here." He voice had changed drastically from her customary sarcastically sharp tongue to a slightly more childlike one. "Nefret listen to me, the force contained in the crystal knocked you out when it was released." She explained cautiously. She could feel a slight confusion and something close to panic buzz in the Egyptian girls mind. "Shhh, you just rest, Moze and I will find a way to bring you back." Chroias cooed softly, reassuringly. That seemed to lull the buzz into a low hum; she trusted them to take care of her, she trusted them with her life. Then another emotion swept through Nefret's mind like a wild fire, and without expressing it Chroias knew. The fight was still in progress and they were both absolutely unaware of what was going on outside this safe little space Nef had retreated to in her own psyche. Mozenrath forced his eyes away from his girlfriend and minion just long enough to cast a look upon Aladdin and Jasmine who was coming to a few feet away. The hero and his entourage's concern had overpowered their better fighting instincts. The sorcerer couldn't believe he had almost missed this opportunity, and with a quick snap of his fingers this undead servants rose from the ground to take hold of the courageous group. By the time the thought of resistance had sunk in the act was futile. "Take them to the dungeon... All of them!" He added after the quickly retreating eel. Xerxes let out a screech as a mumluk rose from the ground in front of him, it was to late to turn back and he found himself in the thing's grasp. "This isn't' over!" Aladdin yelled angrily as he was pull away. "You are so right." Mozenrath grinned to himself. "Moze." Chroias soft voice brought him back to reality. He crossed the room in a few quick strides and knelt by the two women he shared his life with. One his lover, and the other his servant and friend. Chroias slowly smoothed Nef's furrowed hair. "She's alright for now, but we have to find the cure soon or she will slip farther and farther away until she's... gone." Roias hated to say the last word, but it was the truth. Mozenrath's head dipped down for a moment. In thought, anguish, prayer? Chroias couldn't tell. It rose again quickly, but gave no indication of what his prier emotions were, for now it was hard and business like. "Well than lets not waste time we don't have." That said he motioned for her help, and together they carried Nefret off to bed. With a short whine Anubis gathered his master's ring in his mouth and trotted along after them. Chapter 31 (by kalynn)  
  
Chroias looked casually behind her. "Moze." she whispered. "We can't just leave Nef here by herself." She hated to make a suggestion but care for her friend overcame that. "Moze, you have to let them go. A look of pure rage came over the sorcerers face. "Never. I finally have them, no possible way you can tempt me into letting them go!!" He growled in her face. The combination of Nefret's illness and the fact that he had almost lost his soul was getting on his nerves. "Moze somebody has to watch over her. We cant bring her It would be far to dangerous." Chroias tried to reason with him. "Please I have a link with her mind but I don't know how long the distance will keep for. I need to know she will be safe." She didn't wait for him to answer before she pulled him down for a long kiss. "Mozenrath please." Her eyes turned a dark bloody red. Mozenrath sighed. "I'm doing this because Nefret needs someone right now and I can't be here." He growled in a dark voice as he began to unlock the chains to the hero's manacles. "You will stay here and guard her." he motioned. Chroias reached out. "Just a minuet." she grabbed Jasmines arm and hauled the princess to her feet. "I may want Nefret to be helped but I'm not fool enough to think you'll just stay here instead of trying to find a way to get her out." She looked at Mozenrath as if he had no choice in her next decision. "Princess goes with us." A small voice nagged her in the back of her head. Nefret was strongly disapproving of her friend's idea. 'I don't have much of a choice Nef' she mind called back. 'They'll try to take you away.' she murmured. 'And very soon here something is going to arrive that I will desperately need you for. And Moze will need you for it to.' With that final call of Nefret's questions in her head the demones disappeared with Mozenrath and Jasmine in a green puff of smoke. Chapter 32 (by me)  
  
Aladdin stood for a moment looking at where Mozenrath, and more importantly his wife, had been. He didn't seem to have much say in this situation. But then again, were Mozenrath was concerned there were never many options. Genie was locked in some magic resistant box, and Jasmine was... Jasmine was Allah knows where, and he was here. Aladdin was stuck between a rock and a hard place, on one hand his instances told him to grab Nefret, and the imprisoned Genie and get the hell away from here, but he knew in his heart that if Mozenrath came home to an empty house he would.. well lets not think about that. With a sigh he snapped himself out of his thoughts and approached Nefret's bedside. Her chest rose slowly and steadily, just about the only sign she yet lived. Bandages around her ribs gave the impression of halfway-prepared mummy. "Well I guess it's just you and me." He exhaled deeply and reached for a basin on the dressing table to mop her fevered brow. "You know, your masters a real ass!" The comment was directed to the plum haired girl, but he was really only talking to himself. "Really I don't see why you put up with him. And that demon of his.. Well she's just scary! You sure do find strange crowds to run with." If she had been awake Nefret would have laughed, but she was hushed and unresponsive to him and his attentions. 'Roias where are you going anyways? What's coming? Is Jasmine all right? Chroias are you listening to me?' The words grew in volume in the red-eyed demons mind until she could ignore them no more. 'If you would just give me a chance to answer!' Nefret's mind grew quite and Chroias continued. 'The first two answers will come in time, when you need to know, and not before. As for Jasmine.' she looked back to the woman who was dragging her feet defiantly behind them. 'She's sulking. Very Princess like.' She added with a giggle. 'How are you doing?' 'Oh, all right I guess. Are you sure leaving me with Aladdin was a good idea. He was the one who broke my ribs if you recall." Nefret voiced indignantly. 'If YOU recall, you were sitting on him trying to scratch his eyes out!' Chroias pointed out. No words where given, but Roias knew Nefret was put out. "Are you speaking to Nefret?" Mozenrath eyed the smug grin on his lovers face. "Tell her she can be a real pain sometimes." He said gruffly, but just a bit on the playful side. 'Mozy says hi.' She informed he friend through their mind link. Nefret grumbled something in response, but her voice was fading, and fast. 'Nefret?' silence met her resounding question and the demoness could no longer feel her friend. "Dam it all to Hades!" She whispered harshly. Mozenrath looked over inquisitively. "I've lost her." She explained. "See, didn't I tell you that." "EXUSE ME!" They darted around to the direction of the voice. Jasmine had halted her step and was balling her fist crossly. "I refuse." "Your in no position to refuse anything little princess. You just worry about your pretty painted toenails and your hair, and come along like a good little hostage." He taunted. Jasmine was unable to answer however as her chains were given a sharp tug and she was hauled along behind the sorcerer and the demoness. "How much longer?" he returned his attention to Chroias. "Almost there." She breathed. It was funny, you have a mind link with anyone for any length of time, and there's a strange feeling of loneliness when your left alone in your own mind. She already missed that damn plum haired minion she had once wanted to kill. *** 'Roias? Roias??!!!!!!!!" Nefret was practically screaming at the top of her lungs in her mind. But she was alone. She wondered what was going on, had Aladdin stayed? Were Moze and Roias close to getting a cure? Was jasmine well? And just what the hell was supposed to be coming that she should stick around for??? With a huff she put the thoughts out of her mind, she would get no answers till Chroias got back, maybe not even then. Chapter 33 (by kalynn)  
  
Chroias silently cursed herself for breaking contact. She glanced behind at the angry princess. She had to admit she could tell why Aladdin would be attracted to the girl. She supposed in human terms Jasmine was rather pretty. Medium build, black hair, and brown eyes. Decent body, and the outfit she wore almost showed as much as Nefret's. She concentrated, again trying to find her friend. 'Nef Back in the citadel Nefret heard the small blip of her friends presence. The words came out garbled and harsh. 'Nef...we...in...have to ..be home....soon. Aladdin treating...you well?' Nef made sure it was Chroias. 'Yes I'm being treated well. Where are you.' she Chroias heard treated well and where. She frowned unhappy with the connection. 'In Gartacuna' A frown crossed Nefret's face. 'Where' she questioned again 'Gartacuna old haunt of mine' she winced as the connection with Nefret was broken. "Damn it." she cursed loudly breaking Mozenrath and Jasmine from their heat induced trances. "Problem?" Mozenrath looked up at his girlfriend. "What happened." "The blasted connection broke again." Chroias felt her eyes turn red. "Were completely on our own now." she mused and glanced at Jasmine. "Come on princess. You are what we really don't need at the moment." The royal pain looked up. "I don't know who you think you are, but how can you possibly love a man like Mozenrath is beyond me. Chroias gave her a hard slap and then administered a quick one to Mozenrath when he laughed. "That was for being a jerk." she said to his surprised face. "And as for you little princess, that was for the commentary. I don't care what you think I am but insult my boyfriend again and my claws come out." She gave the princess a cold look "And I'm sure several things are beyond you." Mozenrath rubbed his jaw gently. "So what exactly are we after here?" Chroias smiled. "It's called a Phoenix tear. The bird of the sun has such extreme magical properties that it's impossible for a sorcerer to get near it." She smiled. "Just three tears are enough to cure any illness. That's where Jazzie here comes in." Mozenrath stared at the princess. "How." "Well like the mythical unicorn only a princess can get close to the phoenix's feathers without being charred." she grinned at her boyfriend. "We're just lucky she doesn't have to be a virgin to." Jasmine's cheeks blushed brightly. Chroias sighed. "The Phoenix isn't very heavily guarded, certainly nothing you and I can't handle, but from the nest on it's up to Jasmine to get the tears." She looked at the Princess. "Listen up throne girl. You don't have to hurt the bird to get it to cry, all you have to do is pet it directly behind it'd crested head. Directly were the blue and yellow fire meets. It's loves to be scratched there and will immediately cry small gold tears." The demoness produced a small vile. "Get at least nine tears in here." "Nine? But I though you said only three were needed." Jasmine looked suspiciously at The green haired girl. Chroias's head lowered slightly to her stomach. "I'll be needing the other's for something." Chapter 34 (by me)  
  
Sweat trickled down the princess's forehead and he skin glittered a bright red, the fire reflected off her skin. As predicted the guardians of the Phoenix were pushovers, well for the demoness they were. Smoke rose in spirally wisps from the nostrils of the firebird, it was aggravated. Having witnessed its protectors fall and an unknown figure edging toward it the bird had promptly dug its claws into the floor and waited for a clash. But it seemed to sense the blood Jasmine carried, blue blood, royal blood. Jas relaxed a tad as the bird withdrew its deadly grip on the floor below and rested its head on its taloned feet. The demon had been right, while it was hot it was not unbearably so, for her at least. Mozenrath and Chroias stood a ways away, just watching. Princess Jasmine's outline had been reduced to nothing more than a vapory mirage against the tremendous heat of the Phoenix. Roias was carefully following their hostage's every move; Mozenrath on the other hand watched the demon out of the corner of his eye. Something was up, she knew something and wasn't telling. It was no use asking, he decided. She was stubborn and independent, always had been, and he knew nothing would be revealed until she was good and ready. The wavering hand of the Princess of Agrabah stretched out. Closer and closer, drawing back a bit and then proceeding again. Finally she tapped her slender fingertips to the feathers and drew the hand back to inspect it. No burns, not even hot! With a sigh her hand shot back up and gave a slightly playful scratch just behind the crest. A rumble sounded deep within the Phoenix's throat, strangely cat-like. Glittering droplets clung to the edge of the firebird's eye, and then slowly they fell, one by one. In a swift motion Jasmine unstopped the vile and held it to the bird's cheek. '1.2..3.4 5..' She counted silently in her head. "9!" She shouted triumphantly. Though she didn't know why she felt so proud, helping Mozenrath wasn't exactly a great achievement. The two watched as the princess half trotted and half drudged her way back to them and deposited the vile in the green haired woman's hand. "Well I guess royal pains have a use after all." Chroias breathed holding the vile to the light and smiling. Aladdin was trying to get Nefret to drink. He held the cup to her lips and tipped it up, but unfortunately he only succeeded in drenching her face and hair. With a sigh and a concerned face he gave up and hoped the others would be back soon. Now that was a change, he actually wanted Mozenrath around. Well, maybe not so much Moze, but the woman he had taken with him. It was then he saw a burst of green smoke, and the three appeared in the room, just as they had left it, if not a bit sweatier looking. The sorcerer scowled at the hero, but he could not accuse him of neglecting his responsibilities. Nef did appear to be comfortable. 'Nef, I'm back!' Chroias mind linked to her friend. 'I'm here' she reiterated when no response came to her. 'Nef?' She was only meet with a slight whisper of incoherent words. In the time since they had last linked Nefret had retreated deeper into the magicoma, almost beyond reach. She could feel her friend blinking in and out of her mind. "Oh gods, we were almost to late!" She looked at Moze who gave her a confused face. "Give me the vile!" Chapter 35 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias pulled the vile desperately from Mozenrath's hands. "One for the body." she said as she placed a drop on Nefret's lips. "One for the mind." she placed a drop on Nefret's head. "One for the soul." she whispered as a drop was placed in Nefret's mouth. She hid the vile away in the folds of her short skirt. Nefret made no response. "Damn it Nef." she leaned in close to her friend. "Come on Nef your stronger than this." Still no response. "Nefret. You're my friend. There's something coming, something I need you for. It's never happened to me before and I don't know how Moze is going to take this. I don't know how I'll do it." she begged in so low a voice even Mozenrath couldn't hear what she was saying. The green haired woman brushed Nefret's cheek. "Please Nef. You damn minion." she said in an exasperated voice. "I though we were beyond the whole minion thing?" Chroias forgot herself entirely. "You little....." Nefret's face almost looked in pain as Chroias hugged her. "Oh dear gods. I thought you were..."  
  
"Did I hear what I think I heard." Nefret looked pointedly at Chroias's slim taunt belly. She conceded her movements. "Are you..." Chroias placed a clawed finger to her lips and nodded to Mozenrath. "Later." Mozenrath had almost forgotten himself and barely contained his movements with Aladdin standing right behind him. "Sometimes I think your far more trouble than your worth. First with Hadim, then with my mother, then with this again." He shook his head. "You have the most incredible lucky streak since that street rat." Nefret was too weak to find if her lord was joking or not. "Oh I wanna sleep for a month." Mozenrath looked pointedly at Aladdin. "You should be leaving hero." he grinned sadistically at Aladdin. A blue-black glow surrounded them as they disappeared. Nefret wasn't so weak that she couldn't scold. "Moze!! Come on he took really good care of me." She heard Chroias whisper something like 'I'll bet he did.' and berated the demoness with a course look. "I didn't hurt them Nef." He grinned. "Simply put them in a place where they won't be in the way for a small amount of time." "Oh and where would that be?" Nef growled at him. "Nowhere." he said and shrugged. "Not that it is any of your business." he said a flicker of his old angry self returning. "Now I would suggest you go to your room, and get some sleep." "Oh she'll be in my room for the night." Chroias said suddenly. "Don't worry about a thing." she said as a slightly worried look hit Mozenrath's face. "Were only going to be gossiping about how cute you are when your nose gets all wrinkled up, and your lip pouts out..." Mozenrath didn't wait for her to finish before he made a horrible gagging sound and retreated. Nefret giggled, happy to see something was getting back to normal. "Now you said later." she whispered quietly as Chroias opened the door to her room. "Come on am I right?" Chroias took a deep breath. In a split second a thousand thoughts streamed through her mind. Every one of them far to jumbled for her to fix out. Only one irrespirable fact stood out. 'What is father going to do to Moze.' But as she looked as Nefret's face she blurted out in one breath. "I'm pregnant." 


	4. Patron4

Patron Part 4 Previously: Nefret and Chroias have become good friends. Xerxes becomes jealous and frames Nefret for stealing the gauntlet. She is banished but brought back home. For his treachery Nefret banishes Xerxes from the Land of the Black Sand. Enraged Xerxes turned to Aladdin for revenge. The heroes storm the Citadel with a Cryptic, a crystal that steals the souls of those who posses magic. Nefret being the only non-magical one fights and breaks the Cryptic. But the force released knocked her into a coma. Chroias, Mozenrath, and Jasmine hunt down the cure and Nef is restored to health. With her friend and confidant back Chroias reviles that she is pregnant by Mozenrath........ Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content. Chapter 36 (by me, Laura)  
  
Nefret was so tired that no real thought had gone into the latest revelation. It had not yet donned on her how Mozenrath would feel, or what things would be like from here on out. No, those thoughts she could wait a little while, right now all's she could think of was how good the soft bed felt. With a sigh her plum colored head nestled deeper into the pillow. But after that initial euphoria of comfort, she also found herself troubled. "This is a happy event Roias." She tried her best to make the sentence into a statement, but a questioningly tone clung to the edges of her voice. The demon, now ready for bed, appeared from behind the screen. Her look told it all. Nefret fell back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling, becoming aware of the shift in the mattress as Chroias sat down beside her. "It will be." Nef breathed, determination dominated her voice rather than certainty. "I love babies." Her voice turned cheerful. "When I was at the temple mothers would come in to pray to Hathor for their children, or to have children. The birth houses were regular circuses! Mothers and babies in and out all the time. Sometimes I began to believe the citizens of Dendera where all to busy, if you know what I mean." She laughed slightly and rolled unto her side to look at the demon. "You have delivered babies, haven't you?" Roias asked causally running her hand over her belly. "Course I have. What kind of priestess of Hathor would I be if I couldn't do that? I'm a regular Jackie of all trades! Make shift scribe, entertainer, midwife." "Minion." Chroias added. A pillow promptly found it's way to the side of her head. Things got quite for a moment and Roias had figured Nef had fallen asleep. But her soft voice made itself known again "My mother died while giving birth to me. And I've seen at least 6 woman die on the birthing bed at the temple." Her voice was somber and Chroias knew what she was thinking about. "No need to worry. I'm not like most mothers." She pointed out. "Now do you see why I need you around?" Nefret raised her eyes in response, her lips pulling to one side. "You have to tell him." Chroias winced visibly at Nef's words. "He has to know. It's not like you hide it long, it will be more than obvious in a few months anyways." "Soon. I just have to catch him at the right time!" She settled down into the bed, feeling a bit better. After all, she had at least one person on her side. And maybe between the two of them, and the separate influences they held over Mozenrath, things would come out all right. "Now you're going to help me name it." She breathed lightly, focusing on the lighter aspects of motherhood. "Well that depends on what it is." Nef called to attention in a sleepy voice. "Lets see, if it's a boy.." "No, no, no! I mean what it is." She gave a quick glance to the demons horns. With an indignant cry Chroias flung the blankets over Nefret's head and refused to let them be pulled back. "Alright, I was just kidding!" She sputtered wrenching her head above the covers. With a huff they both settled back. "And you're going to tell him?" Nef asked again, just to make sure. "Soon." *** Mozenrath lay in his own bed. While he wasn't exactly thrilled with the events of the day, all in all, the outcome suited him. The hero was in his control, his minion had been return to health and back into his services, and a certain treacherous familiar had been found out. Now maybe things would return to normal. He could torment Aladdin, Nefret would return too normal tasks, and thing would be as they always have been. But something in the back of his mind told him that was only a dream, and reality would be hitting soon. Chapter 37 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias yawned and stretched out of bed. She glanced at Nefret on the bed beside hers and smiled. It would be a comfort to know at least one experienced girl would be here for her. She swayed back slightly. The dizziness was already beginning to take effect. Within the next few days here belly would be in full swell. She cringed gently when she remembered humans took nine months to birth a child. It disgusted her. But since the baby was to be half demon half human Chroias wasn't really sure what to think. 'With any luck it'll be handsome' Chroias had found herself witness to several half cast births that had turned out deformed and was desperately praying to every god she knew that this one would look better. Nefret yawned gently and stood. "Sleep well." she questioned pointedly looking down at the demonesses stomach. "Just fine." she smiled. Nefret hated to bring this up. But... "We have to tell him." she noted. Chroias feigned stupidity. "We have to." Nefret said again. "He's going to be able to tell soon enough. Within a few months." She started making the bed. "Within a few days." Chroias countered. Nefret gave here a half questioning half fearful look. "Demon babies go twice as fast as human. Though I'm unsure of how a demon and human child will go." Chroias felt her thought stray momentarily. She wasn't truly worried about Mozenrath. It was her father who held her concerns. She knew he would disapprove of the bastered child. Of course Chroias herself had been conceived long before Hades and Persephonie had gotten hitched. What with Hades having actually kidnapped her mother and all. Nefret was thankfully unable to pick up on her thoughts. "Let's go tell him." she grabbed Chroias's arm "Now!!" she pushed on the struggling demoness. "All right I'm going! !I'm going!" Chroias giggled. "Don't be so rough with a pregnant lady!!" Nefret laughed out loud as she pushed the green haired girl down Mozenrath's hall. "Trust me, your no lady." If Chroias could have turned she would have slapped that girl. Chapter 38 (by me)  
  
Mozenrath sat staring obliviously at the breakfast meal resting on the table. A soft pit pat reached his ears, the sound of Nefret's bear feet against the marble, countered the blunt click of Chroias's boots. Nef seemed to be back to normal. A good nights sleep had done the trick. Roias however was far too subdued. "Good morning my lord." Nefret's voice was brisk and all too charming. "Your night was pleasant I trust?" she didn't really expect and answer, and indeed did not get one. The girls sat down on the table and uncovered their plates. Picking up her cup Nefret made a point to give Chroias a sharp jab with her elbow. The demon responded by giving her an equally sharp kick under the table. Mozenrath's eyebrows knotted a bit as he observed a sudden pained look flash across his assistant's face, but decided not to pursue it. "Well, are we feeling better this morning?" He directed the comment to Nefret. In response Nef smiled and her eyes flashed in Chroias direction. Taking the slight hint he looked to his girlfriend. "And how are you?" "I feel sick." Chroias grumbled. Nefret wielded around to her friend, that wasn't exactly what she was expecting her to say. But indeed Chroias near white face had taken on a greenish tint that was the perfect rival for her hair. Roias pushed her plate away and rested her elbow on the table and in turn her head in her hand. The demon gladly accepted the glass of water Nef thrust at her. A few sips drained the green from her face and diminished the queasiness that had been churning somewhere in her belly. "Mozenrath.." She began determined but seemed to falter a bit. Another, slightly less sharp, jab from Nef set her straight again. "It really is a shame you know." Mozenrath, and even Nefret looked a bit confused by her words. "I mean, you have collected so much magic, learned so much! The greatest sorcerer of our age, and what will happen to it when you're gone? Sure you may live on in name for a while, but soon forgotten. Even with the help of the sharks tooth, you can't live forever. All things must, and will die. All things but that which is pasted down. Knowledge, legacy and even power can live on if they are pasted down. It is the greatest gift, eternity." She let that hang in the air for a moment for philosophical effect. Nef smiled, knowing where this was going. "Truly the ultimate endowment. A gift you shall have the honor to receive very soon. That is my gift to you my love, eternality. Immortality in the form of a child." She gave Mozenrath a smile, a kind of smile that stressed the old saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth.' The sorcerer's mouth opened and closed a few times giving the impression of a fish out of water. His eyes rolled to Nefret who was shoveling food in her mouth, tying in vain to act natural. But she could just barely keep her lips from turning up. Mozenrath's back hit hard against the chair back. His mouth began its futile gaping exercise again, but with a deep breath he stopped to regain his composure. Then his head shot back to his lover and his lips parted, but this time with purpose. Chapter 39 (by kalynn)  
  
Mozenrath sat perfectly still for a full second. The look on Chroias's face was priceless. An artistic mixture of fearful anticipation and half morning sickness. Something many mothers are fully aware of. Mozenrath stood. His heels clicked against the marble as he walked over to Chroias and between Nefret. Nefret was on full alert. The tension couldn't have been cut with a scimitar. She fingered her dagger gently, incase *not that she really thought it would happen* Mozenrath got angry. Chroias's face seemed even paler as the look on Mozenrath's face made her very afraid for the first time in her life. "Moze..." she stammered out. "I didn't....I never meant...for this...It's partially your fault you know!!" she yelled to him .She was panicking slightly now. Her voice came out in a high scared pitch. "I mean it takes two to tango ya know. And we have been going at it like a couple a rabbits lately." She backed away and out of the chair. Trying to get as far away from the advancing sorcerer as possible. "I mean ...You can't blame this all on me..." she backed even further. Nefret had gotten up as soon as Chroias had moved. She wouldn't really hurt Mozenrath, but if she found the need to knock him out she would. Chroias was still in fear as the wall meet her back thanks to her backing away. Mozenrath reached and got a good hold behind her head. Nefret got ready to attack. Chroias gasped... For a split second everything froze. And the Mozenrath kissed her. And everything froze again. Nefret counted the seconds. 10,20,30,40. And Mozenrath pulled away. A prince like smile on his face. And suddenly Chroias got it. She let out a half aggravated half joyful growl. "You little shit." she said, As Mozenrath started laughing. "I am so going to get you for this....." She growled and flung herself full force on the sorcerer. Nefret backed up a step. "Ummm guys?" she said completely unsure of what was happening. "Excuse me but DID I MISS SOMETHING" Mozenrath looked up and untangled himself from Chroias's pale arms. "Nothing's wrong Nefret." he said. "I am simply fulfilling my duties." he looked again and realized she still had no clue what was going on. Chroias smiled at her very confused friend. "See a loooong time ago, Moze here told me what he would do if I were to ever get pregnant." "And that was what? Scare the crap out of you?" Nefret said still completely unknowing. "No!" she said. "Kiss me." Again with the confused look. "I was afraid I wouldn't ever be able to give birth. Ya know demon genes." Chroias gave Mozenrath another loving glance. Something that was completely uncharacteristic for her. "And he was kinda in a sappy mood..." "Moze was sappy..." Nefret commented and ducked a thrown pillow from Mozenrath. "Anyways... He told me if somehow I did manage it, he'd kiss me." "So why were you freaking out?" Nefret said. "Well I didn't know if he'd remember since it was right before Distane..."she trailed of and Gave her friend a meaningful look. Nefret gasped and nodded as she realized Mozenrath didn't know she knew. "Nefret..." Chroias said pulling her friend close. "You know how you suggested being a midwife..." Nefret smiled. "I wasn't trying to SUGGEST anything..." "Good!" Mozenrath started. "I don't want her to be the midwife. " "She won't be..." Chroias said to both their surprises. "She'll be midwife and god mother." The demoness looked again at her friend. "That is if she'll accept." The two looked at Nefret. Chapter 40 (by me)  
  
Nefret's mouth opened and closed, opened, closed, in the same fruitless exercise Mozenrath had preformed a moment before. Her eyes rolled to Mozenrath than back to Chroias and finally falling to the floor in thought. Godmother, what did that involve? Well legally she would be obligated to take the child if both parents died, though that situation was unlikely. However as most things in life the legal definition fell short of reality. She would be like a second mother to this child, or maybe something like an aunt. Roias frowned, Nefret looked too solemn, she was going to say no. The demon suddenly felt her lover's hand rest on her shoulder, Mozenrath knew to. The two looked at each other and were about to exchange words when a strange sound caught their ears. They looked to the bowed plum colored head, was that what it sounded like? Was that a sniffle? Another one, slightly more suppressed. She wasn't holding back tears, she was holding back laughter! Nefret's shoulders shook and she made an odd staining sound.  
  
"What's so funny!?" Chroias and Moze yelled simultaneously. "Do..*chuckle* Do I get... *sputter* A wand with a star on top?" She burst out laughing. "Why you little!!" With playfully angry cry Chroias caught the girl in her arms and rubbed her knuckles harshly over her skull. "You've been reading to many books! Don't you take anything seriously?" Nefret shook her head. "Well what do you say?" "Do I get a wand!?" Nefret clasped her hands together pleadingly. "NO!!!!!!" "Well if I don't get a magic wand..." She stopped just long enough to listen to Roias growl. "Alright." She finally said with tears hiding in the corners of her eyes. But they weren't from laughing, they were real. Chroias could tell by the soft shimmer in the other girl's eye. Chroias sighed happily and Mozenrath gave his best indifferent shrug. Nefret sauntered forward catching both the sorcerer and the demon by the shoulders. "Well it seems were all going to be one big happy family!" A slight gag escaped Mozenrath's throat. Nefret and Chroias flashed a dark look upon him, but halfway through her silent berating Nefret' face faulted. A sudden memory flashed in her mind. The night she and Roias had stayed up half the night playing truth or dare, the night they had joked about the likelihood of Mozenrath proposing marriage. But what troubled her most was that comment Chroias had made about her father. "Speaking of family..." She released Mozenrath's shoulder and drew Roias away slightly. "Isn't it time to spread the good news?" Chroias's throat flashed visibly as she swallowed hard. Chapter 41 (by Kalynn)  
  
Mozenrath looked at his girlfriend's face. "Ok ready?" Chroias nodded. "Ready." "Rock, paper, scimatar." Mozenrath growled as he realized he got paper while Chroias turned out scimitar. The green haired demoness smiled. "Ok we tell your mom first." The low moan that escaped Mozenrath's throat was not present. "Do we have to? I mean she is going to get so annoying about this. And she will NOT be happy about Nef being the godmother!!" An aggravated look appeared on the plum girls face. "Hay! She kidnapped me!! All I did was knock out a few servants of hers and she threw a fit and magiced me..." "Save it Nef.." Chroias said. "I wish we could avoid this whole thing... but they'll find out soon enough." She patted her slightly bigger belly. It had grown incredibly in the past week. Not to mention other things were beginning to grow to a considerable size. Chroias had pouted when she realized her tube tops and tight jeans would no longer make it in her state. But Nefret had managed to sate her with the idea of a shopping spree. Mozenrath of course being stuck with the check. Nefret looked at her friend's now casual attire. She really did look good in it. The dark green top that covered her well and the black skirt that went down past her ankles. She really was quite an attractive girl, demon, whatever. Mozenrath sigh. "I really DO NOT want to do this." he moaned again. Chroias sighed and flicked a green magic stream out of her fingertips. "Lets just get this over with. Mine are next ya know." A shudder creped up Mozenrath's spine. Nefret sighed as the portal to Morbia opened and the trio stepped inside. Chapter 42 (by me)  
  
Chroias glanced over at Nefret and the long ragged breath she drew in. The Egyptian girl remembered when she had been here last, dragged in screaming and kicking and throwing every insult she knew at Mozenrath's mother. Mirage had grumbled something about a headache and with a snap of her fingers Nefret's sight had grown fuzzy until nothing but darkness was left. Mozenrath was trying not to show any emotion one way or the other, but she could tell he wasn't happy. "Well, is it mother's day already?" Mirage suddenly appeared before them, much to everyone's surprise, or maybe it was more like to everyone's despair. They had come to see her after all, but somehow trepidation now crept up their collective spines. "It's so nice to see my son again. And you've brought your little demonic girlfriend, and the..." Her face dropped and a hand shot to her left temple. "the fog horn." Nefret took a step forward, but thought better of it. Mirage reverted to her old self, giving a smile with the coolness only a cat could achieve. "Well I hope today's gift is a bit more thoughtful than the last I received from you." Her eyes turned dark but that catty smile remained plastered on her face. "Ahh, Mirage! Funny you should mention 'gifts'." Chroias saunter forward flinging her hair to one side casually. The demon ran a loving hand over her gently rounded belly. Mirage eyed her suspiciously. Mozenrath approached them suddenly nervous that his pregnant girlfriend was standing so close his mother. "We've come to tell you that..." his words died on his lips, the most literal case of 'cat got your tongue' yet. The sorcerer cleared his throat. "That I've fathered a child!" the words ran out off his lips in one short breath. That seemed the only way he could get them out. Mirage looked dumfounded for an instant. "And who's the mother?" Her eyes darted mockingly between the girls. Chroias growled slightly and Nefret stamped forward with a sourer look as her fists balled. "Careful girl, I can put you under again." Mirage warned. This halted Nefret's advance with a small 'eep'. "No, it is quite clear who's the pregnant one here!" her yellow eyes narrowed on Chroias's abdomen. "Good guess oh perceptive one." Roias quipped with a roll of her eyes. Than an idea flashed on her face. Moze and Nef could almost see the preverbal light bulb over her head, or maybe it was more like a roman candle. "Hey, maybe next Mother's day we could celebrate together! That would be sooo nice." None could tell if she was joking or not. Not even Nefret, the master of all sarcasm herself. "Hey Neffie can join in to, we can call it 'Mother and Godmother's day!' We'd be trend setters!" "Godmother?" Mirage asked dumbly. "The fog horn is the Godmother!!!!" Her shoulders rose and her arms stained as her fists flexed at her sides. Nefret stated to laugh nervously. "What will see teach the child? How to quip and be an all around royal pain in the ass!!???" "You did quite a good job of teaching Mozenrath that fine art." Nefret grumbled under her breath, but not quite low enough. Mozenrath shot her an inhuman look as Roias rolled her eyes. No one really noticed the extent of the evil incarnates anger until the air practically crackled with infuriated energy. The hair stood up on the group's neck and the forced their heads around to stare at Mirage. "Ok, mission completed!" Moze opened a portal and started to nudge Chroias through it, she only half protested. Nefret on the other hand seemed to be in a state of frozen shock, her mouth gaping open slightly. As he passed Mozenrath's hand shot out to grab her sleeve, and she half stumbled and half dragged along. As the portal quickly closed behind them Mirage's last words slipped though. "WAIT, I'm going to be a GRANDMOTHER?!" "One down." Chroias started. "One to go!" Nef finished. Chapter 43 (by Kalynn)  
  
Nefret looked at the dots of sweat on Chroias's head. The demoness was twice as nervous as when they had talked to Mirage. The plum haired girl shook her head. Certainly Chroias's parents couldn't be any worse than Mirage. Chroias motioned to her lover and friend. "Back up...this spell always has a tendency to snap the room a bit." Mozenrath grabbed Nefret's arm. "I think we aughta move." Chroias began to mutter cryptic phrases. One in particular caught Nefret's attention. "I am Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, and have the power to be born a second time." Chroias muttered in a low voice. Nefret gasped as she recognized it from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. "I am the divine bidden soul who created the gods and gives sepulchral meals to the denizens of the deep." A bright goldish green glow began to forum into a pool of liquid like substance. "The place of the dead, and heaven..." The glow began to embrace and surround Chroias as the room...flexed. "Hail lord of the shrine that stands in the center of the earth. He is I, and I am he!" A deadly silence crawled over the room and suddenly the portal caved in on it's self and spiraled just as quickly upwards and billowed out into a sphere like shape. Two figures became apparent in the greenish-gold haze. Nefret grabbed Chroias shoulder. "Lemmi guess..." Chroias nodded. "Meet my mom and dad." Nefret took a quick look at the duo. Persephonie was pretty enough. Not beautiful...but pretty in a very girl next-door kind of way. Mahogany brown hair that hung in wild curls about her well shaped face. Green streaks accompanied the brownness giving it a natural look. Her bright blue eyes seemed to speech...'I belong outdoors.' Her long, aristocratic nose paved the way down to lush and rose lips. Her slim body told as to how Chroias managed her slim figure. But obviously, she got her height from her father. Hades was a handsome man. If you ignored the dark glare his face held. The man towered at least seven foot, probably a bit over. His hair was a shock green and was pulled back into a sharp business like ponytail. He was porcelain pale and his eyes glowed the same bright red as Chroias's. Two long bull like horns adorned his brow and a crown of black opals toped off the whole king of the dead ensemble. He walked out of the portal on gargoylish feet and his tail swished back and forth like Chroias's did when she was displeased about something. Chroias sighed and gave a long respectful bow. To Nefret's surprise Mozenrath gave the same. Only not quite so low. And not quite taking his eyes off Hades. Persephione didn't seem to pay attention to her daughter stiff manner. The goddess rushed forward taking her daughter in a hug. "Oh my little baby..." she said. Nefret giggled as she realized how upset Chroias looked. The demoness's face had taken on a reddish tinge. Hades however didn't seem inclined to hug her. He did however look at the bulging stomach as though it was a growth. "So I see it happened." His voice came out in a low deadly growl. Something akin to what one might expect from a rabid wolf. Chroias put a determined almost stubborn look on her face. "Yeah it happened...just like you said it would." "And now you've come to beg your way back home..." "Wrong." A darker look crossed Hades face. A reddish smoke began to leak out from his silted eyes. "What..." he whimpered with a snake like hiss. "You were right in only one respect daddy." Chroias said and looked at Mozenrath. As though taking a cue, Mozenrath walked up behind Chroias and placed a protective hand around his lover's waist. "He hasn't left me." "And I have no intention of doing as such either." Mozenrath growled looking directly into the Lord of the Dead's eyes. "I though you swore you'd never marry a man who could legally keep a harem." Hades said eyeing Nefret. Before Nef could get out an indignant remark, Chroias interrupted and sent her friend a quick warning glare. "She is most certainly not a harem girl." "Damn right." Nefret blurted out and this time received a warning glare from Mozenrath. 'Then who is she?" Hades didn't pose this question to his daughter but instead to Mozenrath. To his credit Mozenrath didn't even flinch. "SHE is my baby's godmother! And I'll thank you to treat her with her due respect." Hades shot the sorcerer a deadly glare. He seemed to be very adamant about glares. "You will do well to treat me with my due respect. It is only by my good graces that I am not killing you." "Like I'd let you." Chroias popped up. For the first time since the hug Persephionie spoke. "Darling you know your daddums doesn't mean it. He's just a bit over protective." "Overprotective my ass." Chroias blurted out with anger. "He just wanted me to get stuck with one of those damn half god that go around with every nymph or drayid that'll take 'em." "And you think this sorcerer will be ANY more loyal to you!!!" Hades shouted at her. "Damn straight I will!!" Mozenrath shouted at the top of his lungs. Nefret froze. For about the billionth time in her history with this sorcerer she again doubted his sanity. The look on Mozenrath's face was almost enough to rival that of Hades. "I will not be the one to betray your daughter Hades. I care about her to much for that!" A small smile escaped Hades lips. "CARE about her." He gave a short sharp laugh. "All you do is CARE about her." He snorted again. "CAREING about her is all good and dandy. But do you LOVE her?" Everyone in the room looked at the sorcerer. Waiting for his reply. Chapter 44 (by me)  
  
Mozenrath had a dark look on his face, anyone that knew him well enough recognized it as his deep thinking countenance. Nefret's slapped her palm against her forehead, and Roias looked worried, perhaps more so than when she first started to call her parents. It wasn't a very good sign that he had to think about it. Hades face turned a sadistic sort of satisfaction, and his wife wrung her hands and looked sympathetically at her daughter. Mozenrath's voice was low and harsh at first, but grew more and more confident with each passing word. "I have been with your daughter for seven years. She has stayed with me through thick and thin, and I with her. She has been my guardian, friend, confidant, and lover. And now she takes on the role of mother of my child. Do you not think I love her? Do you not think I have the option of not loving her?" His voice was deadly, a challenge to anyone to contradict him. Hades mouth squeezed together and out, as if he desperately wanted to say something, but didn't know quite what. All the gathered women let out a collective sigh of relief. But stopped mid-way as a laugh rang out. A twisted sort of laugh. A laugh that Nefret had often heard Mozenrath utter, but she didn't recognize it as his voice. No, this laugh could only belong to one person. Hades. Most laughs warm the hearts of the people who hear it, but this one was so angry it froze Nefret's blood cold. "Well." father looked at daughter. "It seems what's done is done. Nothing to do now but sit back and see what happens." This brought a look of anguished acknowledgement to the demons face. Nefret finally made a move, nearing her friend and patting her back reassuringly. "You will stay here for the birth? We have capable doctors." Contrary to what might be expected, Hades wasn't sentimental about the birthing preparation of his grandchild. Instead his words were that of cold necessarity. "No, no doctors." Chroias turned a respectful, yet determined look to her father. "Nefret is my midwife. Don't worry, she's experienced. She can handle it." Chroias answered her mother's concerned gaze. "Can she handle this one?" Hades eyed the younger girl haughtily, she looked no account. Nefret's jaw set in anger, but she was smart enough to keep quite to the lord of the dead. Chroias nodded. Again Hades looked about to say something, but he digressed. "Well, it there any other 'good news'?" He waited for an answer, when none came he continued. "Than, there is nothing more that can be done, or said." Hades was angry, he was a God! And yet there was noting he could really do in this situation, Roias was pregnant, there was no stopping that. And try as he might, he couldn't rightfully control her anymore. Sure he could kill Mozenrath, but what would that really do? Make him feel better yes, but not much else. It would leave the child a true bastered. So he would wait, and he would keep a watchful all on all the resident of the Citadel. That much was for sure! Chapter 45 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias turned and hugged Nefret. Small tears of either fear or joy were turning her face an uncharacteristic red. Mozenrath pushed Nefret gently out of the way. "Nice family you have." he muttered. "No worse than yours." Nefret retorted. She turned her plum head to Chroias. "I'm surprised Hades didn't take both your heads off." "Oh you think this is the bad part." Chroias gave a small laugh. "Wait a few days. I'm sure by now all my siblings have heard. Don't be surprised if one or fifty of my uncles, cousins, GODfathers and a thousand other half immortals drop by." A half panicked look came over Mozenrath's pale face. "How many?" "Oh don't worry. None of them will be half as bad as daddy." Chroias kissed his chin. "Nefret." she looked to her friend. "What?" the plum haired girl smiled as she caught the look on her friends face. "Ummm I think I left the buns in the oven." she said knowing it was a horrible excuse. Taking her chances, Chroias sat Mozenrath down. "Moze ..." she hesitated. "Mozenrath...did you...." A small churning hit her stomach, and it wasn't the baby. "Did you really mean what you said?" She looked carefully into his dark eyes. "About loving you." Mozenrath let the words drop with a small voice that didn't appear to be his. It reminded Chroias of a time between them a long time ago. Back when a scared teen of barely seventeen had taken her heart and her soul. It reminded her of the same scared teen who cried when he told her the truth about depth of Destain's sickness. And how much that sickness had touched him. "Chroias you've been with me a long time." He said as he wiped a tear from the woman's cheek. "I...I never..." he grumbled something that sounded like a curse and then continued. "I didn't think....that...a..a. guy like me was.......capable...of being...." he paused momentarily. The word was on the tip of his tongue. And it took all of his strength to push it out. "Loved, by anyone." He bowed his head momentarily. Not in humility but in quiet reflection. "I remember when you first showed me the many forms love came in." He grinned with a trace of his former casual confidence. "The many many forms it came in." Chroias slapped him lightly. "And I never forgot that." He removed the sharks tooth from his shirt. "And thanks to a certain minion...." he glared in the direction Nefret had just exited. "I don't have to." Chroias smiled. It wasn't quite the plain 'I love you' she had wanted. But with Mozenrath she had long ago learned to take what he was able to give. A sudden look came over Chroias's face. "What?" Mozenrath asked. "The baby." Chroias started. Mozenrath paled. "Already!!!" "No no!!" Chroias's smile lit up the halls. "It kicked." "Did I just hear it kicked!!??" Came a familiar voice. Mozenrath glared as Nefret came running in. Chroias uncovered her belly and placed her friends hand up to the growing ponch. "Oh my GODS!" Nefret said in an almost squeal. "It's kicking." She turned to look at her lord. "Moze you gotta feel." The sorcerer frowned. "I don't think I should..." Nefret didn't give him time to decide. Without a trace of fear she snatched his hand and placed it directly onto Chroias's stomach. He barely felt it at first. Just the smallest tiniest thump of a movement on his hand. Then it strengthened. A small...ever so slight smile crossed Mozenrath's lips. So small even Nefret could barely tell it. But Chroias saw. And she smiled. Chapter 46 (by me)  
  
Things really picked up after that. Well not really, to say they picked up would imply that the time before had been slow! And ever since Roais had arrived they had come close to destroying Agrabah, Nefret had been exiled, Xerxes had been exiled, Xerxes had used Aladdin to try and take revenge, and Nefret had slipped into a coma! No, thing had definitely not been slow! It was more like the velocity of things matched the previous pace of its predecessors. As the demons predicted, by the end of that day some rather unholy relatives did come out of the woodwork. But Nefret left them in the hands of Mozenrath and Chroias, she wanted to avoid that whole harem confusion mess as much as possible. But she didn't find time to relax either, there was too much to do. Nefret sat with her legs crossed on the arm of Mozenrath's throne, her usual post, even if Moze found it annoying. But he wouldn't care one way or another, for now he was off with Roias, fraternizing with one of her relatives no doubt ".. After that prepare dinner. I want something nice! And make extra 'cause I don't know who's lurking around here." Nefret mumbled off the chores on her list to the head domestic mumluk. "Oh and one more thing. I want you to be ready with hot water, rages, a knife, and plenty of sheets at my command. I'm not sure when the birth will take place, but with Roias looking the way she does..." Nefret tapped the pen to her lips thoughtfully. "How long do you think it will be?" The Mumluk groaned in dumb submission. The Egyptian girls brow knotted up. Why oh why was did she bother? With a deep sigh she excused the servant, she herself had work to do. Mozenrath entered the throne room with Chroias clinging lovingly to his arm. He plunked down on his throne with an exhausted sigh. The last visitor had just left, but who knows when the next wave would hit! "I think you handled yourself quite well." Roias commented, obviously continuing a conversation they had begun a while ago. Mozenrath shot her a withering glance. Again the demons predictions had been correct, none of the other had been as bad as Hades, but that wasn't to say that some hadn't come close. Chroias sighed and smoothed her hand over large belly. She suddenly felt something was missing. "Were is Nefret?" the demons eyes rolled around the room, as if she might have just passed he by without noticing. "Hiding from your family I expect. I wish I could do the same." He mused. Roias frowned. "Humm. Maybe I should go look for her." That said the demon turned and left. The study, lab and library were empty, as well as her bedroom. Roias tapped her foot on the marble floor impatiencely. "Of for the love of all Hahtor and Horus! You're about as much help as a sistrum without strings! Let go I'll do it myself! Gah!!!!" Roias rounded the corner just in time to see the mumluk release the end of what they were carrying. It promptly swayed under Nefret's grasp and she struggled to stay on her feet. "Oh shut up." She shot at the undead servant as it watched mutely while she struggled. The pregnant demon couldn't help but laugh. "I'd help you deary, but a woman in my condition should take it easy." "This is payback for me not helping with your relatives isn't it?" Nefret finally got a good grasp on the object. "Bingo!" The demon followed her friend into her bedroom. Nefret set down he burden near Chroias's bed. "Where did you find that anyway?" she gave her new piece of décor a thoughtful look. "You'd be surprised what's scatted about the Citadel." She smacked the side of the crib proudly and choked back the cloud of dust that her actions raised. "Destain wasn't the first person to live here ya know." Her voice turned a bit dark at the name, but she gave the baby crib a slight smile. "Who knows, this might have been a happy family home once." Both looked around with skeptical looks. "Well maybe not. But we might be needing this soon. Hum?" She eyed her best friend carefully. Roias gave no definitive answer, only grinned and ran a clawed finger over the crib. Chapter 47 (by Kalynn Osburn) Chroias ran her hand over the crib and sighed. Suddenly a kick hit her belly. "Off. This little guys ready to go." she said and smiled at Nefret. The plum haired girl smiled back and continued to arrange the sheets. Another kick caught Chroias attention. Then another. Then another. A warm wet feeling ran down her leg. 'Um Nef..." she said hurriedly. The plum haired girl turned her head and gasped. "Aww Hathor when you said soon you meant soon!!" She placed the green haired demoness on the couch. "Stay down. I'm going for Mozenrath." She removed a piece of wood from her side. Ok I want you to hold this. If the pain really kicks in bite down." Chroias nodded and gripped the piece of wood as a contraction started. Nef gave her a slight kiss on the head and rushed off to find Mozenrath. She turned the halls and down the corridors in record time. 'Mozenrath!" she yelled as she caught him just outside of the library The sorcerer turned. "Nefret I really don't have time for.." He caught the look in her eyes and bolted. Making it all the way from the library to Chroias's room in less time then Nefret. "Chroias." he called and attempted to avoid the water around her bed. He face was contorted a bit from the contraction pain, but other then that she appeared fine. "I feel like I'm having a really bad cramp." she whispered. Mozenrath felt the belly. "One things for sure, this has got to be the fastest weight loss exercise ever." Chroias started to laugh and didn't make it." She felt a searing pain go through her. Nefret entered the room. "Moze ya gotta go. Men aren't allowed in the birthing room." Mozenrath gave her a vile look but stopped as Chroias nodded her head. He stood and walked out. Nefret grasped Chroias's hand. "Ok breath just breath." Mozenrath paced outside the doors. He was not comfortable with not being allowed in there. 'Chroias is a big girl she can handle herself. She was always independent you know that' He paced some more. Yes but I want her to need me somewhat. I do want her to be near me' He finally sat down. "And do you think the child will be any different? He will inherit the same capabilities as both you and the mother have plus anything you teach him' Mozenrath had to smile. He and Chroias had have their share of arguments over weather the child would be a boy or girl. Truly he didn't really care what it would be. But he was kind of hoping desperately for a son. 'Nefret isn't going to be partial.' He was glad of that much. Nefret 'that damn minion' would be sure to include anything he or Chroias would forget in the children's education. 'He will have everything. Everything I was never given. I'll teach the child every spell every incantation, everything! Any sorcerer would be proud to know. He'll have it all. Or she will.' He reminded himself as he realized the child could very well be a she as much as a he. "I'll be sure that they never suffer." he said allowed and bitterly as Distane crossed his mind. "Nothing like that will ever happen to him." he promised as solemnly as though making a vow before Allah himself. "I swear to god I'll protect them." The door opened and a tiered but pleased looking Nefret came out. Mozenrath appeared taken aback with the blood now on her top and bottom. But she was smiling and if anything was wrong she wouldn't be smiling. "Mozenrath," she said . "Congratulations. You are now the proud father of twins." Mozenrath sighed and then caught what she said. "Father of what??" Nefret smiled. "Twins one boy and one...."Mozenrath collapsed. "Girl." Chapter 48 (by me) Nefret sighed and bent over her lord. He wasn't unconsciously, just lying there contemplating this new revelation. In the room a baby wailed and a tired hush sounded. "Well have it your way then." She stood back up and headed to the door, but never made it. Mozenrath was on his feet and pushing his way past her before Nef knew what overtook her. Mozenrath swallowed hard and peered at the occupants on the bed. Roais looked deadly tried, but happy. Clean white sheets lay over her and cradled in each arm was a wiggling, waling mass. It was apparent which was the girl, a pretty baby who already had a mop of black hair. But not completely black two small streaks of light green framed her plump face. Her eyes shown a tuslusan red, ruddy, but with enough brown in it to pass as normal. The boy was truly the child of his father, like his sister his he already possessed a mop of black hair and his eyes were a brilliant green. A color that rivaled his mother's tresses. But unlike his other half small horns adorned his head. While both babies were a pleasant pink sort of color, it was apparent that both were as ashen their lineage. "Truly beautiful children. Certainly the most interesting I've delivered! You both did well." Mozenrath suddenly looked up to see his servant standing near the bed. She looked rather bad, Nefret caught onto his thought. "Well, I'll be going now!" She stopped at the door just long enough to smile at the family scene. Somehow this seemed so normal, despite the participants. Mozenrath made sure Nefret was truly gone before he set down on the bed. Slowly he studied the children, Chroias's children, HIS children. Who would have ever thought.? Then his eyes rolled to the demoness. "We did well." He repeated Nefret's words. She nodded and lay back in the bed. "We did!" she confirmed. All fears of deformities and problem births had been swept far far away. Everything had gone smoothly and the children were beautiful. But than how could they be anything but? With their parents and all. It was latter that night and all the residents of the Citadel were huddled comfortably in Chroias bed chambers. Both girls on the bed and Mozenrath sitting in a chair holding his son. The next great sorcerer of the seven deserts, that was for sure. Nef and Roias were in the process of poking at the little girl. And Nef was cooing something like, Contrary to what some may think; you couldn't have been given to better parents. And I'll always be here for you." Chroias looked over with a sly grin. "And she'll teach you how to quip and be a royal pain in the ass!" "Oh no she wont!" Moze protested. Both new parents smiled at the sour look on the girls face. Nef bent down putting her face just inches away from baby's ear "Well than, I'm sure Roias an I can teach you how to bug the hell out of Mozy." Her voice was so soft that it escaped the ears of the sorcerer. Good thing to! Chapter 49 (by Kalynn) Chroias sighed. "You know it'll be the same now. " she said to Nefret. The plum haired girl looked over. "They'll age quickly. Probably within the next five years they'll be fully grown. She sighed. "I grew up very fast to. But since there half human, perhaps it'll take a bit longer." She sounded very hopeful of this as she held the baby girl in her arms. She ruffled the green streaks in her daughter's hair. "What shall we name you humm.?" she voiced aloud. "Damn it." Nefret shouted. "Names, we completely forgot names." She looked at the door. "Maybe we aughta get Mozenrath in here. He should have his say in named to." Chroias nodded. "Mozenrath!" she called to the direction of the throne. "Moze come here." The sorcerer walked in, a wailing child in his arms. "How do you get this child to stop crying?" he said in a helpless voice. The baby boy wriggled in his father's arms and squealed in anger as if he somehow wasn't getting his way. Chroias smiled. "Give him here." Mozenrath looked almost relieved as she took the child, and almost let his jaw hit the floor as she undid her top and placed the baby to be feed. "Umm Chroias..." he said in a warning voice and looking at Nefret. "Hay come on. I've seen a nursing before." she placed her hands on her hips and frowned. "It's no biggie. And you'd had better get used to it." "Oh I almost forgot." Chroias said as Mozenrath tried to find a way to counteract Nefret's statement. "We need to name them." Again a shocked look came over his face. "I'm not a namer." he said. "All right then. How about we name this one Lazurus." She rubbed her sons horns. "And this little bundle of love Tristram." She looked at Mozenrath for approval. "Lazurus?" he said unsurely. "Tristram?" he looked at his daughter. "Unless you have a better suggestion." Chroias hinted. Mozenrath muttered something indiscernible. "What?" Nefret and Chroias said in a duet. "I wanted to name them Zakarum," he pointed to the son at Chroias's breast. "And Rasha." "How about a compromise?" Nefret suggested. "The little girl is Tristram and the little boy is Zakarum." Chroias removed the baby from her and looked at him. "How does that sound? Do you want to be Zak." The baby gave a burbled coo in response and both the girls gave an awwww that would have given a sprite a concussion. "And you..." Nefret said scooping up the baby girl. "You'll be little Tris." The little girl giggled and snatched a curl of her fathers hair. Mozenrath jerked back. Still a bit unsure of holding his daughter. "Go on Moze." Nefret said. "Go on. She won't bite." The baby Tris smiled and showed her fangs. "Ok maybe she will. But she's only a baby." Unsurely he took the child. Tris fingered the stray curl in her father's turban and reached for the glowing red jewel in the top. Giving a half grin to the child, he removed his hat and placed it in the child's lap. Immediately the baby began to chew on the rim. "Hay!" Mozenrath yelped. "She's only curious." Chroias said as she began to yawn. "Give her a moment." Suddenly a shocked look hit her face. "Cloths!!" Nefret made the same realization. "That's right. We need to get the kids cloths!!" Mozenrath moaned. That would mean another trip to Agrabah. Something he was defiantly not in the mood for. "We'll have to go in guise this time." Chroias pointed out. "I am not at best strength for a fight with hero and wife. And I won't have my baby's in the line of fire." "Can you do that?" Nefret questioned. "I mean um..." she glanced at the horns. "Sure. I didn't last time because there was no need. I can cast a reasonably good illusion that should fool anyone except the Genie." Chroias nodded. "And I think I'm strong enough to cast one over the children to." Mozenrath growled. "I think I'll just stay here." "Awww but Mozie!!!" Chroias complained. "No Chroias." Mozenrath said. Chroias sighed, to weary to fight. "An angry woman needs mad money to spend." she hinted at. Mozenrath sighed. He tossed a nicely sized coin purse her direction and sauntered off. "Ready Nef?" The plum haired girl nodded and stepped up to the all ready mad portal. Chapter 50 (by me) Chroias ran a hand over her hair, now longer the shocking shade of green, but a rather pleasing brown color. Her eyes followed the hue of her tresses, and while she was still pale, it wasn't such an ashen white. No one would have known this mahogany beauties secret. The baby girl in her arms had lost the green streaks in her hair, but her eyes remained the same, they were brown enough to pass unnoticed. Nefret's face contorted in pain as baby Zak gave a sharp pull of her ears. The girl gave him a half amused tap on the nose. That didn't abide his desire to pick on her and he gave her own nose a small pull. This one would defiantly be a hand full! She shifted the baby in her arms, placing his back to her. Now unable to pick on his godmother Mozenrath's son watched in amazement the sights and sounds of the marketplace. And boy was it busy! But through all the fuss the two baby lugging women found what they needed. Some very cute girls clothes, in varying sizes, since the child would grow quickly. And some equally cute boys clothes. They had even picked out an adorably mini turban for little Zak. Not that he would wear it, it was more fun to wave it around. Smacking people in the process. "Roias, I'll be right back!" Nef breathed quickly dumping Zak in the demons free arm. Chroias sighed rather happily and shifted Tris and Zak in her arms. Nef's eyes had been caught by some sticky buns, and what was mad money it you couldn't use it from something mad? Baby Tris suddenly took notice to the present her brother held. With a fussy pout she grabbed for the hat, Zak held on and the two struggled for power. A sudden wail raised itself from the girl's throat and the hat was thrown, or maybe flew across the street. With a chuckle the man that had been watching swept up the turban before it could be trampled upon. "I think the belongs to you." Aladdin returned the hat to the baby with a slight amused bow. Chroias's breath caught in her throat, but the hero and his wife where alone, and without the benefit of a certain blue genie. Her disguise would hold. She smiled beguilingly. "Twins? There're so cute! The must be very special." Jasmine praised the mother. "Yes, they are VERY special!" she rocked them gently in her arms. Aladdin nodded with a smile and they began to walk away, but just then. "Oh, these pastries are wonderful! I wish these kids could eat solid food!" Nef ran up with a handful of sweet buns. "But with those fangs, who knows what she'll eat, or who!" the plum-haired girl joked shoving a bun in her mouth. Chroias's face twitched slightly, an action quickly emulated by Nef as she caught sight of the problem. She quickly turned her face. Just in time to, as the royal couple turned to her. "Um yes, that DOG and her FANGS! Let go home and feed the DOG" Chroias suddenly turned tail, taking Nef with her. "It's so good to joke like that when we're going incognito!" She whispered harshly. Nef was stopped mid shrug by an arm on her shoulder. It wasn't who she thought it was, it couldn't be, she assured herself before looking over her shoulder. But it was! Aladdin stood there slightly confused. "Nefret?" He asked, but it was hard to misidentify that head of hair! "How many friends do you have that I'm unaware of?" he motioned to the brown haired woman holding the babies. Good, he hadn't caught on. "Oh. A few." She smiled, but faulted a bit as she saw Al studying the twins and their mother. A slight realization was donning on Jasmine's face. "Well, we best be off now. Babies shouldn't be out in this hot sun for to long." Nef received baby Tris from Chroias and they started off. Leaving Aladdin and Jas behind, still working things out. "Hey!" He yelled and rushed in front of them. Roias sighed, it was no use hiding it anymore. Her disguise faded out, and Al eyed the children. The boy was crowned by a set of horns and the girl flashed her fangs in a joyous smile as she clung to Nefret's arms. Then, almost as quickly as these features had come they disappeared. "Who's.." he managed to mutter. The girls shot him a who-do-you-think look. "Oh. What! No, not him!" "So, these children are half demon, half Mozenrath?" Jasmine paled as the two girls nodded in the affirmative. "By Allah what were you thinking?" "I think we all know what they were thinking, and thinking with!" Nef mumbled. Jasmine blushed at the bluntness of the comment. "Oh, don't you think my godchildren are cute?" "Want to hold him." Chroias asked slyly letting Zakurum's horn show themselves again. Both hero's jumped back. "So be it. Well we did come here just for a baby cloths shopping spree, and I think we succeeded?" She looked to Nef who raised the basked triumphantly. "But it was so nice to see you again! Baby shower gifts are always welcome! I'm registered at several booths!" She waved as a portal opened up right there in the street. Aladdin and Jasmine were left by themselves looking, well rather pale. "Did you have a nice time spending my money?" Moze half smiled as Chroias waked into the room followed by Nef carrying a full basket, full of cloths and one little girl. "It was an uneventful trip I presume?" Both girls smiled a bit. "Love, when you have babies along, no trip is uneventful!" The demon laughed. Chapter 51 (by Kalynn) Chroias sighed as she placed the twins in their individual cribs. They immediately clutched different arms of the teddy bear Nefret had bought them. Snuggling close to it, they managed to fall asleep after an eventful day. Nefret walked in a moment later, holding a sticky bun in one hand and another in her mouth. "Oh dear god Roias." she held one out and the demoness gladly took it. "I'm sorry I blew our cover like that. I should have been more careful around..." "Don't worry about it. Maybe now that they know Moze has offspring, they'll lay offa him." She gave the baby girl a loving pat. "Moze was not happy when he noticed how much pink stuff you got her." "Nefret smiled. "I'll tell you what would have really made him mad. If I had picked up that green and purple dinosaur doll I saw." she scratched her head momentarily. "I think the owner called it a Barney or something." Chroias shrugged. "Sounds like a demon we have down in Tarturus. It tortures people with it's singing." She looked back down at the twins. "Oh god Nef they're going to be so happy." her voice was so full of hope and love Nefret didn't need to say anything. "I'm going to make sure of it." Mozenrath moved slightly when Chroias nudged him aside to get into bed. "Good evening." he murmured and immediately wrapped a protective arm around her stomach. He frowned slightly after having grown used to having a child filled belly against his hand, he found himself somewhat disappointed at not being able to feel the child kick. Chroias turned and pressed herself against him. "Hi lover." she whispered against his skin and slowly nodded off to sleep. Unfortunately, as any new mother can say, sleep with newborn twins in the house will not last long. Mozenrath was awakened by the sound of two hungry wails flying up into the bedroom and Chroias moving into a bathrobe and dodging out the door. He got up slowly and followed her. He entered the door and turned around as he realized the children were nursing again. Chroias sighed as she realized this was something Mozenrath had never seen before and would have to get used to. She stood and popped up beside him just as Tris let out another piercing wail and sent her teddy bear flying across the room. "Did she just do that?" Mozenrath questioned with some amazement. "Probably. She made a turban fly in the market place yesterday." Chroias handed him the girl and boy. "I'll go find Nefret to give us a hand." The moment she disappeared out the door the baby's began to cry. And when they cried they really cried. Mozenrath gave a desperate glance at the door. No sign of either girl. He was going to have to handle this himself for the time being. A memory of something came to his mind. He had never done it before. But to get the kids to stop he was willing to try. Mozenrath took a deep breath and sang. "Good night sweet heart well it time to go." he let the children have a moment to realize what that strange sound was before continuing. "Good night sweet heart well it's time to go. I hate to leave ya but I really must say. Goodnight sweet heart good night." The babies began to settle in and suck on their thumbs. "Well it's three o'clock in the morning. Baby I just can't treat you right. Well I hate to leave ya babay. I don't mean mabey. Because I love you so. Do doeo do." as he went in for the deep part two giggling sounds reached his ears. Mozenrath glared at the door and spied the two girls at the entrance. Chroias holding dippers and Nefret holding her sides. Nefret couldn't top laughing long enough to get out anything. But Chroias walked over to her lover's arms and took one baby. "Nice job love." she gave him a smile that promised a fully sleepless night. Chapter 52 (my me) The night had been a long one. Up and down all night long. Nefret had gotten the most sleep and was therefore "volunteered" to keep on eye on them through the early morning while mom and pop got some much-needed sleep. The bedroom was mostly quiet, the only sounds where the occasional gurgle or laugh of Zakurum as he tumbled on the floor with Anubis. Now it has to be said that Anubis wasn't the smallest, or softest dog in all of the seven deserts. And the Egyptian woman had her qualms about introducing the children to the hound. But surprisingly Anubis was quite meek about the situation, lying submissively on his side as Zak pulled his ears and tail and tugged at his collar. He must have had practice in patience when a certain purple haired child (who shall not be named) had tried to ride him through the halls of a temple at the age of 6. Nefret contemplated the child in her lap. the child contemplated her back. Her reddish eyes shone a deep serious thought matching the look in the woman. Then her lids dropped and she grinned, the spell was broken. "Uh, my aren't we the happy with ourselves?" Nefret laid the baby down and changed her top, which just a moment ago had been spit up upon. "Well as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. You, my child, are growing all to fast. It was a few days ago you came out looking like tiny wet birds and now." she watched the twins crawl over Abubis who gave her a pleading look. They where all plump and fat and already had a head full of dark hair. They could have been on this earth for months. "Well I guess you can't do much about it. Hey, bet you don't know what Friday is?" She picked up the horned twin and he laughed as she gave him a tiny toss. "Yes July 27, but also your fathers birthday! What horrible... I mean nice, friendly thing can I do for him? Well, no need to get him a gift. He already got two bundles of.." Zak reached out and pulled her hair. "Joy." "Troubles dear?" Chroias asked from the door. "You're supposed to be asleep!" Nef scolded, but there was a hint of relief in her voice. "Well as along as your up!" She dumped Zakurum into his mother's arms. "Someone is hungry!" Chroias plopped down on the bed and began to feed her baby while Nefret turned her full attention to Tris. "To an answer you previous question, yes I have had 'troubles'. Tris has been practicing her little talent on a stuff in my room, Zak has taken to pulling my hair, I was spit up on, and poor Anubis has been reduced to twin number 2 babysitter." She sighed. Roais gave her a funny look. "But I wouldn't trade them for all the tea in China!" Nefret smiled. "I agree! They're a hand full, that's to be expected. But there're wonderful." She tried to sum up her feeling in one word, and 'wonderful' was about the best word. "I agree about something else to. We do have to find something horib.. Nice for a certain someone's birthday!" 


	5. Patron5

Patron part 5 Previously: Chroias, Nefret and Mozenrath have had many adventures: a fight with Aladdin, Nefret and Xerxes were banished, but brought back one way or another, and Nefret had been knocked into a coma for a while. but now the gang faces the most challenging situation yet! Chroias and Mozenrath just had TWINS!!!! And just in time from Mozenrath's birthday! Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content. Chapter 54 (by Kalynn) Chroias's eyes gleamed bright red as she remembered the first trick she had played on Mozenrath for his birthday. She and Nef had spent almost all night up on this subject. "We could always put those candles on his cake. Ya know the kind that won't blow out." Nefret mused as Chroias poured her a glass of something she called root beer? Nefret took a sip. She didn't really know what the stuff was, but she liked the way it tickled against her mouth. Chroias shock her head. "Nah! Come on Nef were much more professional then that." she winked at Zak and picked him up as he toyed with her hair. His green eyes sparkled full of wild mischief. "That's it!" Nefret sat up, little Tris sitting up with her. "What's it?" she asked as Tris telepathically made one of the plum hairs stand on end. "What makes you think I won't like it?" Nefret demanded indignantly "Oh gods Nef your not gonna like it. It's vicious malicious cruel and completely unfair" Chroias pointed out. "So what makes you think I won't like it?" Nefret asked again smiling till Chroias pointed out that her hair was standing on end. Nefret smoothed it out and looked at Tris, for the first time she saw a sly smile on the baby child that was far to much like her fathers. Chroias leaned in close and whispered something into the plum haired girls ear. Nefret gave an almost evil grin. "Oh man Chroias, it's times like this I remember why your a demon." Mozenrath felt Chroias snuggle up to him in the early hours of the morning. "Happy birthday." she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. "I'd hoped you'd forgotten." He growled out. "Nope. But don't worry, I don't have anything planned. 'Not any more' she said silently. She smiled as Mozenrath pulled her close. "So how bout we get to work on my birthday present?" Mozenrath said with an arched eyebrow. Chroias giggled. "If we don't watch it the whole citadel will be swarming with kids." Mozenrath pressed a kiss to her lips. "Just so long as I'm the one making them." Chroias fell into a laughing fit as Mozenrath continued to kiss her.  
  
The two, surprisingly, woke up early the next morning. To Mozenrath's surprise Chroias dressed in something a bit more casual. She slipped on black jeans and a dark blue halter-top. Making it so that they matched in color. He raised an eyebrow, but ignored it. No use being paranoid. They began to walk down stairs as Chroias noticed a familiar red dress peeking out of the corner. "Um Moze," she halted him. "I do have one more surprise for you." "Better then last night?" he winked in an almost rougish way. "What did you call that again? Asin..." "MOZE!" Chroias said nervously. But it was to late, a callous almost cat like giggle rose from around the halls. Mozenrath blinked, then glared. "You didn't!" he growled. Chroias smiled in an almost sneaky style. "Moze I didn't it it... it was all Nef idea." The plum haired girl appeared from behind a portal. "Hay.. nice ta know you stick by me and all." "Nice try. But Nef can't open a dimensional gateway." He gave Chroias an accusing look. "All right all right, but Mirage hasn't seen the kids yet and I do want them to know their grand mom." She winced. "To a degree." Mozenrath sighed. "All right. But if she gives me another smile faced lunch box, you're the one I'm coming after." Chapter 55 (by me, Laura) Nefret beamed happily at Mozenrath. God she loved teasing him, it was small vengeance for all the things he had done to her. "Happy birthday my lord!!!!!" She cried as Mirage came out of hiding. Mozenrath couldn't have been more solemn. "Oh come now! Roias and I just thought you might want to have a nice family get together!" "Your not part of my family fog horn!" Mirage pushed passed her towards Mozenrath. This earned a rather obscene gesture from Nefret, but luckily it passed by unnoticed and she walked into the next room. Mozenrath back stepped unconsciously as his mother approached him. "Dear, dear son! Oh don't run from mother. It's always the same, boy discover girls and they have no time for their mothers." Mirage wined and fended hurt, but halted her advance. Mozenrath face twisted sourly. A cry rose from the room Nefret had retreated to. "Ah yes, I almost forgot!" the cat woman whirled around as if she had lost all thought of her son. All followed her into the room. Zak lay on the couch and Tris sat in the lap of Nefret pulling on the ribbon of the box she held. A catty grin spread across Mirages face as she suddenly scooped Zakurum into her arms to study him. Everyone felt a pang of protective fear, but suppressed it. The look on Mirage's face wasn't exactly one of a grandmother meeting her grandchild for the first time, more like a trainer sizing up a new horse. Nefret and Chroias didn't like it, not one bit. Tris wiggled in Nefret's lap, taking on obvious interest in Mirages head ornament. And what Tris wanted, she got, one way or the other. The small gold crown lifted off the evil incarnates head and into the babies hands, and promptly into her mouth. Horrified Nefret snatched it away and held it back to its owner. "Hum, interesting." Mirage noted as she fixed it back in place. "Yes, she is talented. And getting better all the time!" Chroias voice was brisk as she pulled Zak from the arms of his grandmother. "Well let's get this shin dig started! Nefret?" "Uh, what? Oh yeah!" She placed Tris on the floor to be watched by Abubis and pulled a small flute from her skirt. The girls, not including mirage of course stood together and a short toot from the flute hariled the song the demon had taught her last night. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," the girls sang in unison. "Happy birthday dear Mozenrath. Happy birthday to you!!!!" They ended in a little hand waving and smiles. The words 'you look like a monkey and you smell like one to' could be heard in- between the right lines. But since both girls were singing it must have been Mirage. Mozenrath gave a brave smile and let his eyes wonder to the gift boxes on the floor. "Oh all right, we'll get to the good part." Chroias sighed and handed him a box. He tore into it like a kid on Christmas Eve. "A sweater?" he lifted the dark blur shirt from the box. Moze caught the demons glare. "Oh, a sweater! It's nice." He gave another brave smile. "I thought your wardrobe could use more... variety!" the green haired woman explained. Another box was tossed to him from Nefret's direction. He opened it, a bit more slowly than the last. "101 ways to take over the world, by pinky and the brain." He read the title of the book, Nefret laughed. "Um, useful." He set the book aside with a slight scratch of his head. "Mother, dare I ask?" She responded by pulling her gift from behind her back. He sighed and opened it as if it held some deadly snake. A thermos was pulled out with some strange purled and green dinosaur on the side. Needless to say it didn't stay out of the box long. "You like?" mirage asked clasping her hands together. "It will go so nicely with my smiley face lunch box." He hissed through clenched teeth. Nefret eyed him warily. Boy he wasn't happy! Maybe they shouldn't push him to far, not just yet anyways! She stood and clapped her hands, immediacy the doors opened and several mumluks sulked in pushing carts of food. One cart was placed in front to Mozenrath and one in front of Chroias. Nefret picked up the twins and lead Mirage out the door. While she got acquainted with the new arrivals, Moze could actually enjoy his birthday breakfast. He should have a bit of fun after all, the big dinner was still coming up. Chapter 56 (by kalynn) Chroias rocked Zak as Anubis tumbled around with Tris. She still had her determined little brown eyes on Mirage's hat. She gave an indignant squeal as Mirage moved further away from the group and ultimately crawled over to Zak. Her twin looked over at the adults. They were sitting and managing a tense conversation. Zak gave a quick coo as his twin poked him on the shoulder and pointed to the hat on Mirage's head. One impish grin from Zak later, and the twins were setting up for trouble. Zak crawled over to his grand mom and immediately began to pull on her leg. Mirage looked down at him as the child gave her a famous smile. His green eyes glowed brightly. "Well so this one is the sorcerer of the family." She mused as she picked him up. Mozenrath stiffened a moment but relaxed as he heard a wild giggle from his son. Zak, the little charmer, he already managed to engage Mirage in a game of odd peek-a-boo. He would give a wild, almost insane giggle every time Mirage's face appeared from her hands and grab for the shiny necklace she wore. Nefret was keeping a close eye on Zak, but as she was doing this, she failed to notice Tris sneaking up from behind. Suddenly the whole table froze as the grand mom was lifted from her position. Zak began to fall only to be immediately caught be his sister and lowered gently into Auntie Nef's arms. A spitting yowl from Mirage could barely be heard over the torrent of giggles coming from both Tris and Zak. Tris smiled in an almost devious way as she turned her grandmother upside-down and the hat fell off. "Mine." she punctuated in a quite clear voice. Now even Mirage stopped meowing. "Did she just speak?" Nefret said. "She just spoke!" Chroias said scooping up her little girl and her hat in the same process. The little demon chewed mindfully on the hats brim and didn't even flinch when the sound of a dropped cat hit the floor. Mirage scoffed away in a huff, angry that the attention was never on her. Only Mozenrath wasn't busy in trying to temp Tris into talking again. Chroias noticed her lovers sitting far from contently on his throne. "What's wrong my lover." she asked and sat on his lap making it plain that she wasn't going to leave till she was told. "Noting." he said softly. "Just..I was hoping..." he shook his head and placed a piece of birthday cake and ice cream in his mouth. "What?" Chroias prodded. He looked longingly over at Tris and her twin giggling over on the floor, completely absorbed in how much of the hat they could soak. "I'd hoped her first word would be...." he hesitated, making sure Nefret was completely absorbed with the two. "Daddy." he turned red immediately after saying it and looked in surprise as Chroias walked away. She picked up Tris who yelled at being taken away from the hat. Then sat her firmly in Mozenrath's arms. "Why don't you hold her a moment?" she said. "Nefret and I still have a few party favors to get out and a few hidden gifts now that you mother's gone. My mom sent you one in fact, as well as one's for the twins." she placed Zak in his father's arms as well. "We'll be back soon." she said snatching a surprised Nefret off the floor. Immediately after they left Tris went for the turban and Zak went for the glove. Without hesitation Mozenrath removed his headdress and placed it between them, hoping to let it absolve their attentions. It did. They squealed in laughter and Enjoyment playing tug of war with it. Suddenly Tris squealed. Not one of her I- want-attention-now squeals, but a frightened scream. A mamluck had wandered into the room and Tris now clung fearfully to her father's shirt trying to get as far away from the thing as possible. Her wide eyes looked up at Mozenrath expectantly. Zak simply tried to get a closer look at the creature before his father pulled them back. "Back off." he muttered it as an order to the mamluck. The creature bowed and left. Tris waited till it was gone before trying to pull at her father's curls. "Allllakkk." she gurgled and pointed to the place where the mamluck had been. It had no meaning, but it was obvious she wanted to know what that thing had been. "Mamluck." Mozenrath said. "Mmmmaaaammmm luck." he sounded it out for her. "Mmmmma." she tried gently. "Mam." Zak said trying to compete with her. "Mamluk" "Mamluck." she said adding a syllable for him and grinning cause she knew she'd done it right. Zak snorted and grabbed the turban away from her. "Mine." he said with the same possessiveness as she had with Mirage's hat. "Mine!" Tris grabbed it back. "Mine!" Mozenrath said putting the turban on his head. Chapter 57 (by me) Nefret followed Chroias down the hallway. Well more like stocked behind. Just when things were getting interesting she was shooed off. That's the way it always went. Chroias dug under her bed producing several packages that she handed up to Nefret. The plum haired woman turned to the door, eager to get back to the action. But Roias caught her shoulder. "Not just yet." She tipped her head to the side and smiled. Nefret plopped down on the bed setting the gifts beside her. "I swear!" she plunked her head in her hands stubbornly. Chroias laughed and bopped her over the head with a box. Instead of fighting back as was expected Nef only fell into the bed, arms outcast, as if the blow had killed her. Mozenrath sat in one of the sitting rooms with Zak on his lap. Tris meanwhile was sitting on the floor happily waving around a noisemaker, provided of course by her mother. A slight noise echoed in the hall, no doubt Nefret was trying to catch in him an embarrassing situation that she could use against him later. But sadly, for her at least, she dropped a box and cursed at the sound. Mozenrath grinned to himself 'she's done it to herself this time!' He quickly pulled his turban off his son's head and placed it on his own just as the door swung open. Nefret wobbled in with an armload of gifts and Chroias followed with a bottle of campaign and glasses. Anubis trotted in and made his way to intently to Tris. With a sigh Mozenrath' s minion dropped her burned at her lord's feet. The bubbly was poured and all sat back. "Well dear?" Roias motioned to the packages. He picked one up obligingly. It was addressed to him from Persephone. Inside the box was a rather nice looking carved jade bird. It didn't exactly mesh with the rest of the décor or the Citadel, but it would look nice somewhere. The next was also from Persephone, but it was for the children. He handed it to Chroias and waited for her to open it. In that box there was two stuffed animals, each identical in everyway. Mozenrath's next gift was from both Chroias and Nefret jointly. It was a decorative knife, the handle made up of a figure of a woman with outreached arms and a ruby encrusted in her forehead. It was slightly Egyptian looking. "It's a knife that belonged to the ancient sorcerer Dedi" Chroias exclaimed rather proudly. The name held some recognition for Mozenrath, but he couldn't quite place it. Nefret seeing this decided to explain. "Dedi lived in Dedsneferu. He was 110 years old and ate 500 loaves of bread, a side of beef and a hundred droughts of beer daily. He was a powerful sorcerer and if and if the head of a man or animal was smitten off she could bring it back to like. He tamed wild beasts and knew the designs of the house of Horus!" Nef repeated the tale. Mozenrath grinned crookedly, now he remembered. It would be rather nice to own something that had been in the hands of such a person as Dedi. He placed it aside with a muttered thank you. While the grown ups were babbling away the twins were busy with a new plan. They had cornered the unsuspecting Abubis and crawled onto his back urging his to raise himself. A Yelp rang out and everyone's head shot around to look as Anubis jumped up under the sharp pressure of Zakurum's kicking feet. With an audible 'eep' both woman scrambled to their feet and grabbed a twin before they could fall off. Relived of his burden Abuis patted out of the room indignantly. "No!" Tris wined. "Dog." Zag pointed to the door Anubis had left through. Everyone looked at each other in turn and then slumped into a chair. It had become quite apparent that these kids would make sure no one was bored! Chapter 58 (by kalynn) Nefret sank down to the children. Tris was tugging gently on Anubis's ears as the dog nipped playfully back at her. She giggled exactly every time the dog made a casually bite at her and retaliated with a small nip from her mini fangs. Zak was trying to make a sneak attack on Nefret from behind. Just in time she noticed him. "Oh no you don't!" she said scooping him up in her arms. Zak made a burbling noise as if trying to sound innocent. "Sorry kid but you got to much of your father in ya for me to believe that." Nefret giggled as she began to tickle his chin. Zak laughed in a wild fashion as he tried to touch the anklet on Nefret's ankle. "No Zak." she motioned him away. "I don't think your father would be too pleased with that." Zak punched out his lower lip in angry defiance and crossed his arms. Chroias laughed and removed the child from Nefret's arms. "Oh tell me he doesn't look just like his father." Mozenrath turned a light pink color and used his turban to hide it. Just then a knock emitted around the citadel. "Now who on earth?" Nefret clamored up and went for the door. "If it's Mirage tell her to go caught up a hair ball." Mozenrath called from the door. To Nefret's extreme surprise and soon to be everyone else's, it wasn't Mirage. It was Aladdin and Jasmine. Both bearing gifts. Chapter 59 (by me) Nefret's heavily lined eyes were wide as she desperately tired to find something to say. Finally with the sound of Mozenrath and Chroias approaching behind Nef snapped back to reality. "Princess, effendi." She grasped the gifts from the hero's and turned around to face the other two. Mozenrath was trying to hide his surprise with a sour glare. Chroias gave Nefret a shrug and let the plum haired woman pass back into the room to set down her burden. "I don't recall inviting street rats and royal pains over for dinner!" Mozenrath glowered "Well I guess that's 'cause I DIDN'T! Solicitors aren't welcome here, so kindly LEAVE!" Mozenrath turned his back to them but didn't walk away. "It's just that, with are kingdoms being so close to each other, when we heard that you had heirs." Jasmine was trying to be as diplomatic as possible. This was supposed to be for the good of her kingdom, but deep down she was rather curious of the children of her enemy. "It seemed only proper that Agrahaba extend its congratulations." Jasmines head stretched to look over the sorcerer's shoulder at the sound of a childlike laugh. Mozenrath ginned slightly. 'So that was it was it? The hero's wanted to know about the children, my children! They want to know what they're up against. Well, than let them see." He waved them on without turning around. Chroias followed, slightly concerned. Jasmine and Aladdin eyes gazed upon the children. One of them sat resting against a sleeping dog. Upon seeing the new comers the girl raised her arms and laughed, baring a shiny set of fangs. Jasmine's and Aladdin's eyes rolled to the other child in unison. He was sitting at Nefret's feet wrapping her ankles with a ribbon that had been pulled off a gift box. Nefret did little to evade him, her eyes were glued to the Agrabainons. Chroias saved her the embarrassment of tripping over herself by scooping up her son and bringing him slightly forward for inspection. The horns on his head held no doubt of whom his mother was. Jasmine instinctively reached to touch his face but Mozenrath stepped between the two. "What are their names? And how old are they?" the princess asked, trying her best to hide the indignant tone in her voice. "This is Zakurum. And that is Tristram." Chroias indicated the baby that now resided in Nefret's arms. "They are only a few days old. They grow faster with the genes of their mother." The demon answered Jasmine's questioning look. "And a last name?" The princess tried to hide the fact she was inquiring the parent's marital status. Silence met her, but that was all the answer she needed. Nefret decided to break the uncomfortable hush. "It was nice of you to bring gifts. We never did have a proper baby shower. They came so close to Mozenrath's birthday today.." she was cut off my a warning growl from Mozenrath. "Ahem Maybe we should open them now. You will be able to stay for that?" Nefret's question was directed more to Mozenrath. With a huff he swiped up a gift and handed it to Chroias, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. The gifts were the usual, cloths, and various jewels and thing that would most likely end up collecting dust in the Citadel treasury. Zak busied himself with the ribbons that had been discarded, and again was tying to wrap them around his Godmother's ankle. But she wasn't going to let him this time and, much to his disappointment, neither was his mother. "There is another reason we came." Jasmine began as soon as the last present was unwrapped. "Our kingdoms have never been... on good grounds. But I was hoping that, with these children, we could agree to live peacefully. That your children, and our future offspring could rule in accordance with one another." She looked expectantly at Mozenrath, and everyone else just looked vexed. Chapter 60 (by kalynn) Chroias blanched. 'This princess has more guts then I thought' she mused. She couldn't help but respect the woman for being able to put personal safety ahead of personal feelings. She meet eye's with the princess momentarily and gave her a half smile of respect. Jasmine returned it. Mozenrath arched an eyebrow and almost smiled as Zak copied the move. He didn't really think Jasmine would have said it if things between them hadn't been so tense. After all when could be more perfect to ask then when he had his children to watch out for and couldn't risk a fight. Mozenrath opened his mouth and again had to hold back a smile when Zak copied the gesture. "I think an alliance between us could prove to be a ..." he caught Chroias giving his a warning glare. "Wise move. What with future generations to look out for." he glanced at Jasmine's stomach. Just then Chroias and Nef seemed to notice that the princess had picked up a few pounds since the last meeting. Probably as to why she had done this. With a child coming on her end, Mozenrath as an enemy with two offspring would not be a good idea. Aladdin kept his eye on the sorcerer. He had been on edge ever since Jasmine had suggested the idea. But with only nine month's to go, he knew this was a calculated risk. "Glad to here you approve of the idea Moze." Nefret gave him a desperate glace as to the shorting of Mozenrath's name, but Mozenrath seemed not to notice. At least not until he had an assured sharp retort. "Oh hello Al." he gave the hero a sly grin. "Do forgive me I seem to have completely forgotten you were there." He removed Zak from his lap. "Perhaps you'd like to give me child a hero's blessing?" Aladdin didn't really have any choice. This was a diplomatic mission and customs of another ruler's children and the respect due to them had to be observed. He accepted the squirming baby and supported his head. "I give you the official blessing's of Agrabah gates and her people. Passage and safe transport is at you disposal as well as asylum should harm befallen you. May Allah bless you and keep you safe." Chroias sighed, he'd gotten that part down pat. She gently handed him Tris. The little girl smiled with her fangs gleaming at the hero. Aladdin winced but repeated the ritual. Again Chroias breathed a sigh of relief. Agrabah was one more problem swept out of the way. Now at least her children could go somewhere outside the citadel with little interference. Thing's might have gone well from then on if only Tris hadn't damn well set her mind on the fact that this man didn't seem to like daddy and daddy didn't seem to like this man. She gave her brother a look, but he shook his head. Zak wasn't going to agree with her on this one. Tris crossed her arms and pouted. Zak wasn't being any fun. If she couldn't get this guy daddy didn't like, she would at least make him jealous. Tris turned around and stretched her arms out to Mozenrath. "Daddy." she said in her clear voice. Chapter 61 (by me) Mozenrath let out a deep breath. He had worried that those words would never grace his Childs lips. He did have the piece of mind enough to keep a cool countenance. The girls however had no problem letting emotion wash over their face. Aladdin cleared his throat uncomfortably and handed the baby back to her father, who accepted her tenderly. Zakurm watched in annoyance. Everyone's eyes were on his other half. A grin graced Zak's face, making him look all too much like his father. He crawled to Chroias's feet and blurted, "Mama!" Now everyone's eyes rolled to the male child. Tris let out an indignant cry. Well she would just fight fire with fire! "Auntie!" She pointed to a rather surprised Nefret. The twins eyes meet, Tris giving a smile that said 'Bet that!' Zak just pouted. "Well...." Chroias was rather flabbergasted. "It seems everyone has been identified!" Everyone that had been ID'ed by the twins seemed to forget those who hadn't been. "Ahem!" the group's collective glance turned back to Aladdin. "We have this treaty." Mozenrath took it and Chroias and Nefret sprang up behind him to read over his shoulder. The text just basically mirrored the prior blessing of the hero, that the recourses of Agrabah were available, and at their disposal and also the promise of sanctuary. With the addition of mutual militia forces against common enemies. Which struck Nefret as rather ironic since it seemed their only common enemy was each other. The parchment was already signed by both Aladdin and Jasmine. Mozenrath admitted an indecipherable mumble, and understandably so. In all her years in the Citadel Nefret had resigned herself to the fact that she would be witness to many a thing, but her lord signing a contract of peace? With ALADDIN???? If someone had told her of this event last night she would have called him a lire and possible hit him upside the head. But Mozenrath took the pen provide to him and scrawled his name across the bottom, then thrust it at Chroias. "Witnesses." He explained bluntly. The demon nodded and signed he own name. Nefret was next, and she expertly marked her name in Hieratic. While those three were occupied Chroias pulled her lover aside. "Are you sure? And remember, you said you were noting if not a man of you word." Her eyes were narrow in concern that he wasn't planning to keep his end of the agreement. "I am! In contracts I like." He smiled wickedly. "If they wish to provide me easy access to Agrabah let them.!" Mozenrath failed to mention any of his new responsibilities. "Did you see what I saw?" Chroais asked as she and the other girl leaned over the crib. It was latter that night and all the 'guests' had left. "Aie." Was Nefret's sharp affirmative answer. Chroias stopped stroking her child's cheek and looked at her friend with a cocked eyebrow. Nefret met her gaze. "I swear its babies left and right! Don't you people have anything better to do?!" The words were meant to be scolding, but she couldn't hide the amused tone in her voice. Chapter 62 (by Kalynn) Chroias gave Nefret a quick smack for the comment. Nefret squealed as she began to pelt the demoness with a pillow. Tris and Zak watched the two momentarily and gave each other knowing looks. Something was about to happen to them. Tris focused her ability on Nefret. "Auntie!" she squealed as she hoisted Nefret up and into the air. Nefret looked down at the child. She gave as small gasp as she noticed the twins were glowing. A greenish gold color began to swirl about their features. "Ummm Roias." Nefret said landing on a cushion. Chroias turned around and gasped. "Get Mozenrath NOW." She called after her friend. Mozenrath came tearing down the halls Nefret close on his heels. "What what!!!" he stopped shouting as he noticed the glow covering the children. He lifted his gauntlet prepared for a problem. "NO!" Chroias yelled in to his ear. "You don't understand. Their ageing." She gave her husband a meaning full look. Nefret moved in closer as the twins began to grow. The baby fat around them began to disappeared as their bodies grew slightly taller. Zak giggled with delight as he was now able to stand up to his mother's knee. He immediately wandered over to Auntie Nef and began playing with the hem of her dress. "Horse ride." he said as soon as the dark glow had finished. Nefret picked him up and hushed him. "Why is Tris taking so much longer?" Mozenrath questioned?" the girl was still covered in the phosphorescent glow. "Probably because of her abilities. Telikinetisisum has to developed with the body." Chroias picked up Zak who was gazing jealously at his twin. "You know after this is over Zak should be old enough for you to start training in Magic." she mentioned despite the fearful look on Nefret's face. Mozenrath smiled as he thought of it. "Yes." he held his now apparently 5 year old son. The glow around Tris died. And Nefret again gasped. "Guys she's older then he is!" Chroias and Mozenrath turned around. It was true Tris was about two years older then her brother now. A gangly seven year old stood before them. Calm cool eye peered out and saw her brother being held. She gave a malicious grin and floated his from his father. Nefret and Mozenrath looked at Chroias for and explanation. "Ummm Girls mature faster." Chapter 63 (by me) Nefret stood in the doorway with Chroias at her side. They had gone unnoticed, and Mozenrath was continuing his magic lessons with his son. The sorcerer had wasted no time, the very next morning after his children's transformation he had swept Zak away to the library to read him some of the most basic magic manuscripts. Nef was glum, and Chroias rather proud of her son. A tug on her dress caught Chroias's attention. Tris stood there with a rather angry look on her face. "Why does he get all the attention." She asked loud enough for Mozenrath to hear. The man finally noticed the woman in the doorway and quickly closed the door in their faces. "Because dear he is your fathers heir. You don't need to be taught, you have quite an amazing natural talent." She tapped her finger lovingly on daughters nose. Tris looked away but Nefret could tell she wasn't satisfied with the answer. "Tris? I could teach you a thing or two!" Nefret exclaimed. The child looked up at her quizitivly, thought for a moment, then nodded. And so the rest of the afternoon was spent in informal classes. Mozenrath locked away with his son and Nefret and Chroias sat in the study teaching Trisram the basics of both Arabic and hieratic, with the promise of hieroglyphs yet to come. Now it was known that these were extraordinary children, but it simply amazed Nefret how quickly Tris absorbed anything she taught. By dinner young Tris was reading and writing simple sentences in Arabic and could recognize some hieratic words. "Well, she sure is a quick learner." Nefret whispered softly to as she and Chroias watched the girl mull over the few sentences Nefret had jotted down on a scrap piece of papyrus. "Hum." The demoness hummed in accord. "Makes you wonder what Zak has been able to pick up." He words brought a dreading look to Nefret's face. It wouldn't take long to find out the answer to that question. Everyone had meet in the dinning hall for dinner, Mozenrath beaming proudly as she lead Zak into the room were Nef, Chroias, and Tris already sat. Conversation was light as the meal was brought out. "And, she wrote the word cat and also." Chroias's proud rendition of Tris's accomplishments where cut short as Nefret pulled the silver dome off her plate and promptly screamed. Everyone gasped as the plate flew across the room spattering against the wall, spiced meat and pastries slowly rolling to the floor. Mozenrath look angrily at his minion. "Bu... but there was a.. I swear it was a snake!!!!" She pointed franticly to the food sliding down the dinning room wall. Everyone just looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not insane!!!" Nefret's face faulted as the bubbly laughter of Zak grew in volume. Now everyone looked to the young boy, who was trying to hide his smile under his hand. "Zakurm!" Chroias scowled as Nefret dropped back into her chair with a bitter expression. Mozenrath was desperately trying to keep a straight face as he ordered for another dinner plate. "Forgive me Auntie. But mama was telling what Tris learned, I thought it only fair I show what I can do." His voice was so smooth and rational that it was hard to contradict him. "See it was the power of illusion!" "Yes he picked that up quite well." Mozenrath fingered his chin. "Perhaps if he learns a bit more we should test his powers." Moze mused to himself. The girls exchanged glances. Then Chroias noticed something. "Tris.." Chroias warned. The child looked over at her. "Put Anubis down!" She pointed to the dog as he writhed around in the air just above Zaks head. Chapter 64 (by kalynn) After Nefret managed to give Zak a good hard spanking for that stunt and sent the boy away red faced and pouting, she settled down with Tris. The girl was uncommonly quiet and could keep herself absorbed for hours at a time simply sitting and reading. The moment Nefret and Chroias had taught her any kind of literature she had set out as soon as dinner had finished and began to read the library. Of course all the books were way beyond her level, but that didn't matter a with to her. Nefret looked at the girls limply puffed hair. It had grown along with her and now hung about her face down past her shoulders. Nefret picked at a strand of green. "What?" Tris said questioningly as her Auntie/Godmother moved around. "Nothing. Just...how would you like that trimmed?" she asked. "In Egypt most people don't even have hair, or at least they keep it very very short." Tris fingered her limp hair. "Yeah! I do want it trimmed." she said happy to have her auntie's attention as she settled down and surrendered herself to Nefret's scissors. Zak was toying with his newfound illusionist powers, and trying to open his sisters voice activated diary. She walked in. Jumping slightly he hid the spiral book behind him." Hay sis...just wondering where you......." he stopped dead in speaking when she walked in. Tris had an all to please smile on her face as she fingered the short strands of her hair. The black hair formed around her face giving her a sweet almost wafeish look. But her green locks hung in braids falling about her cheeks. "Get your hands off my diary." she pointed to the book Zak has dropped. The young sorcerer didn't move, he just looked slack jawed at the hair. "Dad is NOT going to be happy." he said in a clear warning voice. Tris frowned. "I don't care if he is happy about it." a small pricking began to hit the back of her eyes. "He only pays attention to you anyhow." She turned around and walked out. The nursery didn't suite her anymore and she was considering asking her auntie to ask her mother to ask her father if he could give them separate rooms. Nefret however was waiting behind the door as Tris wandered off to find her father. She had heard the little girls comment about Mozenrath only paying attention to her brother and now had a red face. Tris wouldn't say anything, but as godmother Nefret felt it to be her duty to tell Mozenrath to stop being a jerk and start being a sensitive little shit. Unfortunate Tris found Mozenrath before she could. He had been sitting in a room with Chroias, basically they were making out, and now both parents sat bug-eyed staring at the short hair. Chapter 65 (by me) "What happened to you!" Mozenrath spouted as soon as he found his tongue. Chroias stood up and ran a gentle hand over her daughter's head, investigating the new style. "Auntie Nef did it for me!" she smoothed her short locks back into place. "Auntie Nef?" Mozenrath repeated as if he didn't recognize the name, realization quickly donned however. "NEFRET!!!!" He roared. Nefret appeared in the room even before Mozenrath finished yelling her name. "Tris dear, why don't you go find your brother and play?" Chroias whispered. The child looked pleadingly to her father, but obeyed. "Nef, did it ever occur to you that it might be a good idea to ASK before you butcher my daughters hair?" Mozenrath asked in a deadly calm voice as soon as she was gone. "Butcher!? I'll have you know she looks very pretty!!! And if you would pull your head out of you ass to actually look at her for once you might see that! Would it kill you to drop your self-centered spoiled princeling act for a moment to notice your daughter?" Nefret fumed. Chroias's lips were pulled into a taunt frown, while what the other girl was saying was true, it might not be a wise idea to point it out. Nefret relaxed and resumed her usual sarcastic attitude. "Well, love, she is getting to be a big girl now, you can't make all of her choices for her." Chroias patted Mozenrath's arm lovingly. "Big girl? She was just born a few weeks ago!" He looked to Chroias, but her face was blank and rather unreadable. "I see." Were his only words as he walked calmly out of the room. Both girls new where he was headed. Nefret looked back to Roias ready to be chewed out by the demon. But the demon only put an arm around her friend and lead her out the door. A gentle knock came from the nursery door. Tris looked up and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she caught sight of her father. Mozenrath entered and sat on the small bed. He ran a hand over her head as lovingly as he could. "You look nice." He mustered. The girl looked up at him her sad eyes taking on a slight sparkle at the complement. Mozenrath nodded to confirm his statement. She looked away and gave a placid smile. "You growing up to be a lovely young lady, a little to fast if you ask me! But I suppose I'll have to treasure you while you're still my little girl." Tristram gave a tiny giggle and glommed onto Mozenrath's arm. "I'm always going to be your little girl silly!" She thought for a moment. "And you're not mad? You yelled at Auntie, is she in trouble?" Tris looked up at her father. "Of course she is! But that's nothing new. She's fine though. Ask her yourself, she's right behind the door." Mozenrath pointed to the closed door where a soft indignant cry sounded. "And as punishment she will ready two rooms for you and your brother. This simply won't do for much longer." He let his eyes roll around the nursery. Nefret could be heard stamping off down the hall Chroias watched as Nefret stormed away and into an unused room. With a slight laugh she entered the room and took her daughter in her arms praising her new hairstyle. It was then that Zak entered the room looking with confusion at the scene, but he quickly shrugged it off. "Um, father." He looked rather sheepishly at Mozenrath. "There's a little problem in the next room." He broke out into a nervous laugher. "Auntie said she was fixing me my own room so I decided to entertain her with a new spell .... well to make a long story short there's an animated throw pillow running amuck in the halls." Everyone looked at each other and sighed. Chapter 66 (by kalynn) Chroias managed to tackle the throw pillow before it got too lose and Mozenrath used a counter spell to deactivate it. After Nefret gave Zak another damn good spanking and Mozenrath came down on him with a chastising and Chroias gave him a deadly glare for attacking her friend, all the while Tris simply stood in the corner and tried to control her laughter. Zak rubbed a tear from his eye, more because of how hard Nefret's hand had come down then anything else. He apologized shamefaced to Nefret and Mozenrath sentenced him to his room for the reminder of a night with the promise of a hard magical lesson the next day. Mozenrath walked into the room where Chroias was already trying to dose off. "I feel horrible." he mumbled out. Chroias turned over. "You mean about Tris?" Mozenrath covered his face and nodded. "I mean I was all prepared for a boy and only a boy and suddenly you pop up with twin and I get a girl in the bargain! I mean I can handle a boy..." "Nobody can handle Zak!" she put her head to one side. "Except Nefret." "But a girl...I mean I just wasn't ready for a girl." he gave Chroias a pleading look "In my experience your very good with girls." Chroias offered the opportunity to help. "When their my own age and..." he gave his lover a half embarrassed glance. "manageable." he hinted gently at the blatantly obvious. Chroias smiled. "Mozenrath you have to be gentle with her. As a half demon she'll be grown up so fast your barely going to have time to know her. Her body's going to mature directly in front of your eyes and she'll still be a child." Chroias turned her lover's face to hers. "I never had the opportunity of an overly loving father but I always had my mother to turn to. Tris has you and me." Mozenrath snorted. "And what does that amount to?" "An over protective father and an overly ironic mother." Chroias thought for a moment. "And a loving but sarcastic aunt." she smiled when Mozenrath frowned. "Are you sure we should have given her such authority over the children?" Mozenrath noted. "I mean she's great with Tris but by the time he's grown Zak's not going to be able to sit." Chroias popped Mozenrath lightly on the shoulder. "You are going to have to teach that boy to keep a reign on his powers! I don't want him tormenting Nefret." Chroias sighed as the rain outside began to pour. Suddenly a flash of light followed by a boom of thunder echoed through the Citadel. A small childlike scream echoed from down the halls. Five seconds later a small frightened shadow appeared at the foot of Mozenrath and Chroias's bed. "Mommy, daddy." she whimpered. Mozenrath sighed and moved over and Tris crawled in bed beside her parents. Another shadow appeared at the doorway. "Don't tell me your scared of a little lightning." Zak said mockingly. "Your Just As Scared as I am!!!!" Tris said accusingly. Zak smiled. "Am not." A thunderbolt streaked across the sky and another childlike body crawled in between his parents. Mozenrath sighed. Really he had been hoping to have the night alone with Chroias, but it was evident neither of them were going to have fun with two squirming children. A final shadow showed it's self at the door. Mozenrath reared his head. "NEFRET DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!!" Nefret only grinned and looked at the children. She took a big gulp of air and, "AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!" she turned and ran. Mozenrath, Tris snuggled in the crook of his arm, couldn't even fire a bolt. Chapter 67 (by me) The god Set was in fine form that evening. The storm ravaged the Black Sands desert basin all that night. It was beautiful in a way, but as a thunder cap shattered the night and the room was illuminated in one wicked flash, Mozenrath could understand why his children were so frightened. Thready lights rippled across the sky above the Citadel, but for once all was peaceful inside. Everyone tucked in bed, even if it wasn't the bed they were supposed to be in. As promised the next day's magic lesson was a hard one, one that began right after breakfast and wouldn't break even in the heat of the midday. Chroias sat watching her son proudly as he poured over his studies with a determined face that was far beyond his years. They looked up at the sound of a knock. Nefret entered carrying a large tray, Anubis and Tris hot on her heals. "I figured you were to busy to come to the dinning hall, so lunch came to you!" Nef explained as she set the tray on a nearby table. "I've got stuffed pastries Zak." She handed one to the boy, who grabbed it eagerly. Half because it was recognized as a peace offering, and half because (like any small child) he had a sweet tooth. Mozenrath sighed, but he supposed the break was inevitable. Nefret offered her lord a plate, and he reached out with a gauntleted hand. But as soon as the full weight of the plate was in his hand he hissed and dropped it on the table. "Is it acting up again?" Chroias questioned worriedly as Moze recoiled his arm back to his side and rubbed his wrist. Mozenrath only nodded as the constant dull pain turned sharp and shot up his arm. The children looked wide-eyed at their father, and Chroias winced as she realized they had no idea what was happening, or why. Cautiously Chroias shooed the children out of the room as Nefret went for a basin. When they were gone Mozenrath removed his Gauntlet. "You know if you didn't wear that thing all the time it might not hurt so much." Nefret muttered as she tended to him. While she had served him she had looked for ways of soothing his pain, besides massive doses of alcohol, she had found wrapping his arms in bandages soaking in warm water laced with lanoline helped the most. Mozenrath winced as the cloth touched his bony arm. But everyone's face faulted as a soft cry sounded from the door and the pitter-patter of feet ran down the hall. "Damn it all to hell!" Mozenrath cursed as he slipped on the gauntlet and headed out the door. Chroias and Nefret followed. The twins weren't that difficult to find, they were huddled behind Zak's bed whispering fearfully to one another. They 'eeped' as Mozenrath entered. He stood there grimacing at the anxious looks his children shot his gauntleted arm. Chroias walked to the bed and picked a twin up in each arm. "Lets go back to lunch huh? Daddy needs to talk to you." She cooed. But the children really didn't have a choice as their mother carried them out the door. Once they were back in the study Chroias sat down placing the twins beside her. Mozenrath lowered into the chair across from them and Nefret hung worriedly around the table. "What wrong with daddies hand?" Tris and Zak inquired almost simultaneously. The green-haired demon let out a breath, the question put her on edge. Mozenrath's pain had faded back to the normal level, but he was still grim as he realized everyone's eyes were on him. He knew what they wanted. "Tris." He suddenly got an idea how to put it as nicely as he could. "You were born with your telekinetic powers weren't you? But you realize that not all of us are as lucky as you. Look at your brother, he will have to study hard and practice for many years to reach his full potential. And some will go farther, sacrificing more than just time to perfect his abilities." Both children's eyes were locked intently on their father. "I am such a man. I gave up a lot to get were I am today. It is time you know what I gave up." Once again he removed the gauntlet for everyone to see. Mozenrath took in the faces of the observers, the children's jaws hung agape, Chroias looked somber, and Nefret was grimacing. Tirstam was the first to find her tongue. "But daddy, wont that hurt you?" Mozenrath softened. "Yes Tris, it has hurt me, deeply. But its worth it, you'll understand one day." She looked skeptical, and worried at the same time. "But its done hurting me." His hand brushed across his chest, were the sharks tooth lay under his clothing. A gesture only Nefret and Chroias understood. Nefret thought they should tell them that he was going to live for another 1000 years while they were at it. But it was best not to lay all Mozenrath's secrets on the children in one day. Both children nodded in understanding, if not still a little shook up. Mozenrath slipped the old brown leather back into place. "I believe you said you had pasties!" Chroias pointed out brightly. Nef smiled slightly and handed the treats around. The children's attention was soon drawn away by the sweet bread. Mozenrath looked to Chroias, posing yet another unspoken question 'are they going to be ok with this?' Roias smiled tenderly. Moze then looked to Nefret, who only shrugged. Chapter 68 (by kalynn) Tris kept her gaze locked intently on her fathers hand. Zak shoved a pastry into his mouth and suddenly felt his twins quiet sadness. It was a connection between the two. He looked over at her and then at his father's hand. Tris gave him a sad look and suddenly Zak felt the anger riseing in her. "It shouldn't of had to happen." she said softly so that only Zak could hear. "Daddy shouldn't have had to lose it." she murmured again. Zak gave his sister a warm pat on the shoulder and noticed the somber mood in the room. If there was one thing the young sorcerer hated...it was people being too serious. Immediately a mischievous smile took his face and he passed the emotion over to Tris. The girl caught on quickly to he twins desire to make everyone feel better. Zak snuck up behind Nefret, then suddenly changed his mind. Nefret had had enough, (besides her hand was hard). Time to move on to a temporary victim. He nodded a to Chroias and Tris took the clue. Chroias let out a wild scream as a wyvern came shooting out from under her. Giggling came from the two children as they shot from the room and down the halls of the citadel, Chroias hot on their heel. Mozenrath watched the children run laughing from their mother. Unwittingly he flexed his hand. He uncovered it briefly, and gazed at the bone. A small eep sounded from the corner. He blushed brightly and began to cover it as Tris papered from around the corner. She walked bravely forward and looked from the hand to her fathers embarrassed face. Gingerly she reached out and jerked her hand back. Mozenrath sighed and again removed his gantlet. "It's ok." he said and held it out. Again Tris reached bravely forward. Her soft hands meet the bone and for a brief moment Mozenrath felt the pain ebb. Tris kept her hand on his and put it softly on her cheek. "I'm not afraid of you daddy." she whispered, clearly she was terrified, but to stubborn and brave to admit it. "Me neither." Zak popped up from behind the same corner. Like his twin the both had know what they were going to do before the wyvern popped up. "If she isn't afraid then neither am I." He sat his jaw in a stubborn look that mimicked Mozenrath's stubborn looks perfectly. Mozenrath smiled and allowed them to touch his hand. They were to intently curious to be afraid of anything for too long and refused to let his deformity them from being attentive. A shadow appeared behind the same corner as Nefret and Chroias watched the twins explore their father's hand. They gave each other a knowing smile and faded back, content to let Mozenrath share this moment with his children. Chapter 69 (by me) Things seemed rather peaceful after that. The air had been cleared. Everyone sat in one of the parlors. Mozenrath and Zak reading a spell book, Tris playing with Anubis, Chroias resting on the couch and Nefret trying her best to fix a pair of pants that Zak had ripped in a very comical way earlier that day. The needle slipped away from her and imbedded itself into her finger, staining the cloths. Nefret growled angrily and threw the article of clothing on the floor. Chroias looked curiously at her then at the pants. "It's no use fixing them. He'll just rip them open again." The demon pointed to the snug fitting clothes of her son. He looked up and tried to raise and arm, but only succeeded in ripping a gap in the seams of the arm. Tris laughed and Nefret winced at the sound of tearing cloth. Roias pushed herself off the couch and thrust her hand out at her lover. He looked at it, than at his children and sighed. "The only trouble with half demon children is their ghastly wear on cloths!" He grumbled and placed a coin purse in the demons hand. The marketplace was busy that day, and the twins, the two girls and one unhappy sorcerer looked around trying to decide where to start. Chroias had insisted that Mozenrath come along (pointing out the treaty between the two lands) but it was probably the pleading eyes of this children that convinced him.  
  
"Hey Tris!!!" Nefret called out, holding up a ruffily pink dress. Mozenrath growled and snatched it away from her. Nef winked at Chroias and the two proceeded to pick out more... sensible clothing. "Oh no! It's that man!" Zak hissed to his mother. "Who?" she looked with Nefret to catch site of Aladdin walking towards them. Nefret wondered how in the world Zak could remember him, but than again he was a wonder child. Jasmine ruffled Tris's hair, much to her disliking, as she pushed ahead of her husband. "What are you guys doing here?" Aladdin was trying to sound brisk and friendly, but there was hidden animosity in the statement. "Just doing a bit of shopping." Chroias said trying to drowned out Mozenrath's comment. "I see." Jasmine laughed. "You weren't kidding when you said they'd grow fast!" she and Aladdin eyed the children who had taken refuge behind the skirts of Nefret and their mother. Zak caught Al's eye on him and stuck out his tongue, a habit he picked up from his aunt no doubt. Aladdin ignored him and cleared his throat. "There is no need for you shop in the Marketplace. You'll pay out the nose here!" The hero looked to his wife, who nodded approvingly. "Why don't you let the royal tailor whip up something?" He offered as politely as he could, just as Jasmine begged him to be. The residents of the Land of the Black Sand looked at one another with raised eyebrows. Chapter 70 (by kalynn) Mozenrath frowned but Nefret quickly stepped in. "Sure. I'm positive the children would like some properly fit clothing. Anyways since there status is as high as yours I'm sure Mozenrath wouldn't see them in anything less." she gave Moze a look to say she had just turned this into a matter of pride. Jasmine smiled at the little girl. "I'm sure Genie would just love to meet the children." she commented and Chroias looked at Nefret. It was going to be a long day. Fortunately if the children hated Al and Jas they loved the genie. Naturally curious about anything magical, Genie was a veritable carnival for the two. "Why are you blue?" Tris asked "Why don't you have maniacals like other genies do?" Zak said "Where's all your hair?" Tris countered. "Do you live in a lamp or a ring?" Zak shot out. Nefret and Chroias plopped on the couch, glad that the palace serpents were taking care of everything the children needed. They had been hesitant at first, but as Agrabah had it's share of strange sites, they quickly adjusted. And for once Tris was the center of attention. They nurse maids who had attended Jasmine as a child now found the pretty child to be absolutely everything they needed. Tris, only to happy to have everyone listing to her, simply gave a warm smile and let the ladies braid and unbraid her hair. Which as they put it was 'The cutest thing style they had ever seen and who came up with something so inventive' Tris had absolutely puffed with pride and pointed out her Auntie Nef beside her mother. Zak on the other hand, was much less preferred by the palace staff. In the hour they had before the tailor arrived he had already managed five pranks and to everyone's surprise Genie seemed to be his accomplice. To Aladdin's extreme surprise he saw Mozenrath holding back a desperate laugh as the child looked up at his father trying to explain how he had managed to get a live baby dragon into a soufflé. Genie was of course looking almost as shame faced as the kid, but couldn't manage to hide his glee at having found a new partner in crime. Aladdin gave him a don't push it look as Chroias walked into the room. Nefret leaned on the doorframe. "Hi Al." she murmured and smiled presently at the quickly plumping Jasmine. Chroias looked at the princess. "Girl you know what you need? A caramel sticky bun." Mozenrath turned a bright red as Chroias sent him a wink of remembrance and Aladdin caught the wink. He gave the sorcerer a smile that said so-your-not-such-a-solo-guy-after-all. Mozenrath looked back at Chroias and let a half smile slip out. Jasmine hadn't noticed. "A what?" "A caramel stick bun. You know those caramel squares you buy in bags at the market place? Melt about twenty down and then warm some crosonts. Fill the middle with the caramel and heat them the rest of the way. The spread icing on the top." They're great." she gave a nod to Nefret meaning she wanted for them to have a conversation with the Princess while Mozenrath and Aladdin made an attempt with at a civil conversation. Aladdin and Mozenrath stayed silent a moment. Mozenrath didn't seem inclined to break the tension himself. Finally Aladdin opened his mouth. Chapter 71 (by me) "So..." Aladdin looked around the room for something to say. "They seem to get along well." He pointed to Chroias and Nefret. Mozenrath eyed to pair and gave a short indifferent snort. Aladdin searched for something else to talk about. Genie and Zak were huddled in a corner whispering to each other, no doubt planning something. "Well it seems someone else has found a friend. Zakurum." Al pondered the boy for a moment. "He's a good looking kid. I'm sure he'll grow to be a fine young man." so maybe that line was cheesy, but what else could he really say? A grin came upon Mozenrath's face. "He'll grow to be a fine young sorcerer." He corrected the hero, who gave him a concerned glance. "He's already quite talented. But how could he be anything but... with his parentage." Moze gloated. Aladdin cleared his throat apprehensively. "And the girl, Tris? She's quite the beauty. She's going to give you trouble with the boys!" Aladdin patted Mozenrath back absentmindedly. If it hadn't been for his son in the room Mozenrath would have incinerated him to dust and blown the ashes to the four corners of the earth. But that wasn't exactly a picture he wanted to paint for his son. "And your wife seems to be quite... plump." They both looked to Jasmine who had surrendered to the two women. Nefret was babbling on about the seven Hathors and Chroias was moving a hand around her belly feeling for movement. "I'm sure her child will be a fine one." Mozenrath gave a false smile, so false in fact that it wasn't even meant to look genuine. He had distinctively left out the phrase 'your child' in his statement. Aladdin rolled his eyes and was about to offer a sharp jibe when Tris bounded into the room holding a piece of cloth that was obviously to be used in one of her new garments. "Mama, Auntie." She held the swatch up for inspection. "I picked it out." She said in a sugary voice. A voice that made the nurse maids go 'awww', which was the reason she was using it no doubt. Both girls nodded in approval. Tris then made her way to her father's side. "Is it alright?" Tris's asked looked at Aladdin. She was more inquiring about the situation than her choice in fashion. "As well as can be expected." He took the cloth from his daughter small pale hand and inspected it. If Aladdin had caught on to the hidden conversation he didn't' let on. Instead he tried to get on the child's good side by praising her choice of, quote, 'the most beautiful cloth in the seven deserts for the most beautiful flower in all the world.' Tris beamed, she was starting to like it here! In the corner both genie and Zak gave a short nod and broke their huddle, creeping slowly to the three unsuspecting woman. Genie floated to the ceiling and prepared to drop a bucked labeled; 'orange hair dye # 9' over them and Zak was planning to drop a live lizard down the back of Nefret's skirt. They both nodded and Zak reached to his Aunt as Genie slowly tipped the bucket. "HEY GUYS!" A voice echoed through the room and the actions of the pranksters was brought to a sudden halt. "It's you friendly neighborhood genie of the bottle!" Eden exclaimed happily. Everyone looked to the green genie standing in the door. It was then Nefret took notice of Zak standing behind her holding a squirming reptile by the tale. "NOT AGAING!" she cried and grabbed him by the ear. The lizard struggled to free himself, and released his tale, dropping to the floor and leaving Zak holding the still wiggling appendage in his palm. Everyone stared at if for a moment, before Zak made a gagging sound and tossed the disembodied tail in a random direction. Just then a young woman walked in, but froze mid- step as something long and green fell into her shirt. Domdi's eyes went wide and she began to flail about trying to get it out. "What a warm Agrabah welcome!" Mozenrath quipped trying to suppress laughter. Chapter 72 (by kalynn)  
  
Zak looked up at the female genie. And then he noticed the girl. She was older then he was. Probably at about fifteen or sixteen. And she was gorgeous. Not in the typical sense of Arab beauty. She was probably at he top height and with long dark brown hair going down her back combed till it shone. She had large laughing eyes that to Zak seemed to twinkle in the light. Her dress was dipped a bit low in the front as she walked like a lady. Zak went slack jawed. He gulped a large breath of air as something inside him stirred. Of course she would have been prettier if she hadn't been attempting to get a LIZARD TAIL FROM HER BLOUSE!! Tris caught her brother. "Some impression." she growled out to him as Zak found himself barely able to give her a grimaced. Soon after wards Mozenrath found an excuse for them to wander off and find a room for the night. The moment the nursemaids were out of sight...Tris was all over Zak. "Zak has a girlfriend. Zak has a girlfriend!!" she taunted as Her mother and Nefret turned to see the commotion. "What do you mean by that?" Nefret asked as she saw a blush rise on the young boys face. "Oh she don't mean nothing." Zak threw his sister a mental glance. "Doesn't mean anything." Chroias corrected. "And what is she talking about?" Chroias gave her son a foreboding look. "I doubt your old enough for a girlfriend." "I think he will be soon enough." Nefret pointed to the glow that was beginning to surround the child. Chroias looked at them in shock. "Even I didn't grow up this fast." She gave Nefret a worried look. "I hope their ok." Nefret nodded and silently mused a prayer. 


	6. Patron6

Patron part 6 Previously: Chroias, Nefret and Mozenrath have had many adventures: a fight with Aladdin, Nefret and Xerxes were banished, but brought back one way or another, and Nefret had been knocked into a coma for a while. Now Chroias and Mozenrath have children! Nefret, Chroias, Mozenrath and the new twins Zak and Tris celebrate Mozenrath's birthday. But Aladdin and Jasmine show up to! They propose a treaty for the sake of Mozenrath's children and their own unborn child. Surprisingly Mozenrath agrees. Taking advantage of the treaty the group heads to the palace to have clothes made by the royal tailor. But they weren't the only guest Aladdin had! Eden and her master Domdi soon arrive. Young Zak takes a liking to Domdi. Being a demon child he is apt to growth spurts, BIG GROWTH SPURTS! In a matter of moments Zak is aged from 5 to 15! Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret, Apepe, and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content. Chapter 73 (by me)  
  
Chroias and Nefret contemplated Zakurum with tilted heads. No longer did a little boy of 5, no, now he seemed to be around the mortal age of 15, maybe 16. He was rather tall for his age, and already his body promised to be long and lean, much like his father's. His face had matured nicely, a strong nose, almond shaped eyes, nicely shaped but not toughly unmasculine lips. Yes he really did grow into a fit young man, leaving little doubt that he wasn't sickly. Nefret turned to Chroias. "That poor tailor is going to have to measure again." the girl smiled at her friend. A frustrated snort caught their attention. Tris stood near her brother, her shoulders hunched to her ears, fist balled. "Oh, well.." Nefret looked to Chroias for an explanation. "Um, maybe it was Domdi that influenced the growth spurt. Give her a little time." The demon gathered her daughter in her arms kissing her cheek lightly. "Will you three cut it out about Domdi!" Zak pleaded. "She hates me!" He frowned as he remembered their encounter. "Oh, now. Some of the best relationships often start out on bad terms. I could point out a few examples," Nefret looked to Chroias. "But your father needs to be told." Nefret knocked quietly on Mozenrath's door. "What!?" He growled. Confrontations with Aladdin always left him on edge. "You should come to with me to see your son." Nefret jumped slightly as the door whipped open. "What has he done now?" Moze whined slightly. "He jipped his sister by growing first. He always has a jump on that poor girl it seems." Nefret said, but Moze was already halfway down the hall. When they entered to room again, Zak was pulling is long hair into a low ponytail. Tris sat by Chroias shooting mental daggers to her twin. Mozenrath advanced on his son to investigate him. "Well wait till Domdi lays eyes on you!" the elder sorcerer smiled. "See! I told you! Zak's got a girlfriend, a girlfriend, a girlfriend!" Tris taunted "Sister, that is so childish." Zak quipped. Tris's face turned beet red. Mother and Godmother kept a watchful eye on young Tristram all that night, but to no avail. She stayed the pretty little 7-year-old girl all through the night hours. But everyone could feel that it was coming, building, approaching ever faster. But it there was no way to hurry it along. It was the next day and the nursemaids had dug up some old clothes for Zak to wear and everyone marched down to the dinning room for a so-called 'civil breakfast' before the final fittings. Chapter 74 (by Kalynn)  
  
Mozenrath went slack jawed as Zak walked in wearing the new outfit that Nefret and Chroias had made the mistake of letting him choose. He prefers a pair of Black tightly fitted pants and a wild green top with gold patterns sown in. As though because Tris wore no jewelry he had to make up for it. Has three earrings on each ear and two almost Genie like manacles on his arms, studded with black opals. He also wore a black cape for flourish and apparently for the excuse of having a new place to stuff a bit more style in. The cape was attached with a gold buckle and has an odd question like mark closely resembling the one on Mozenrath's shirt done in emeralds. He had a necklace of polished lava stone and one that is just a simple gold chain. His hair was as long as his fathers and pulled back into a long ponytail. "Well dad whda ya think?" Mozenrath continued to let his jaw hang. Nefret stood behind Chroias and the two giggled as Zak did a gentleman's turn and bowed. Mozenrath still hadn't spoken. Nefret finally spoke. "It's ....original." she tried her best to complements. Mozenrath stood up and walked over to his son. He fingered an earring and frowned. "Can't say I approve of these." he commented dryly. Zak's casual smile turned to an unhappy frown. He suddenly must have thought of an idea cause the smile brightened him again. "You know dad you aughta get one." Mozenrath backed up a bit. "Me, an earring?" Zak nodded. "Come on it didn't kill me." he fingered the gold one. "I still think you did this just to get that girls attentions." he shook his head. "Domdi is Eden's adopted child. The moment Eden finds that your my son she'll kill you." she shuddered remembering his last meeting with the female genie. Chroias put a comforting arm around her son and winked at Nefret. "She would unless a certain distraction was to appeared." Nefret caught on and dragged herself into it. "Yeah and you were to have a few moments alone with Domdi." she nudged his shoulder. Zak brightened again. "Mom Auntie I swear I won't play a prank on either of you for a whole month." she pledged. Nefret smiled. "My gods he must be in love." Chapter 75 (by me)  
  
Eden was making her way down the palace halls to meet Domdi in the garden when all of the sudden she felt an arm fall around her shoulder. She looked over to see a grinning demon at her side. Another woman sauntered up to them. Eden had only caught a glimpse of these two women last night before they had disappeared to their private rooms. "Um, hello." The female genie tried to be friendly as she extracted herself from the green-haired woman's grasp. The woman gave a warm smile. "Do I know you?" "No." the plum headed one chimed in. "But were here to fix that. I'm Chroias, and this is my good friend Nefret"  
  
"Weren't you hanging out with some kids earlier?" Eden eyed them. Nef and Roias looked at each other. It was best not to get on the subject of the children. Chroias looked around. "No, no kids with us! Come on we've come to invite you to tea!" Chroias laughed as Nefret stated to coral the green genie around the corner to the parlor. "So, Chroias you're a demon huh? Well, it's always nice to meet another supernatural entity." Eden commented calmly accepting the plate of cookies from Nefret. She hated to keep Domdi waiting, but the woman had made it quite clear that she really didn't have much choice in the matter. So she mise well make the best of it. Chroias nodded. "I'm the product of Hades and Persephone." "And you?" Eden turned to Nefret who was stuffing cookies in her mouth. "Sorry I'm just a lowly mortal. I just pal around with higher beings." If Eden had caught onto the sarcasm in Nefret's voice she didn't let on. "And how do you two know Aladdin?" Eden inquired innocently. The two girls looked to each other yet again. "Oh, we have our little bouts of civilness." Chroias hinted vaguely at the truth. Zak peeked out the garden gates at Domdi who was sitting near the fountain. He whipped back around before he was seen. Zak ran a hand over his hair, carefully avoiding his horns, smoothed his eyebrows, and gave a quick tug on his shirt before he cleared his throat and stepped out into the light of the menagerie. Chapter 76 (by Kalynn) Domdi was playing with a flower when Zak appeared. He remained quiet up until the brown haired girl turned around. She gasped in surprise and suddenly Zak found himself wishing he could erase his horns. Of course he looked spectacular. The jewelry showed he was defiantly a man of rich qualities ,but his build and his looks were...supernatural. Domdi looked carefully at his horns and his sharp green eyes. "Hello." she said in a soft voice. "Hi." Zak said and mentally kick himself for such a stupid opening. "Umm. The moon is great tonight." "Yes it is beautiful." she nodded in confirmation. "I love watching the stars." "Really?" Zak felt elated. He mentally thanked his father for the astronomy lessons. "Do you know the constellations?" "Only a few. Eden taught me." She pointed to one in the shape of a dragon. "I know that's Draco. And thats Ursa Major and Ursa Minor." she gestured another direction. "That's Cassiopeia. And that's the crab." she said proudly. Zak sat held rapt by every word. "Well what were you born under?" he asked gently. "Cancer." she looked at him with the large black eyes. "And you?" "Leo." he said proudly. "Like my father and sister." "Oh. Well you know what they say about Leo's and Aries." she gave him and all to familiar grin. "No clue.." He took the hints well and let her take the reins "Exactly." Domdi sat down beside him. "So who did you say your father was again?" "Mozenrath." he said to comfortable to even think of. He gulped when Domdi stiffened slightly after hearing that name. "But he's not such a bad guy." Zak confirmed. "And I'm sure he'll like you." Domdi relaxed, but only a bit. "I suppose if your being allowed in Agrabah it can't be all bad." she gave him a warm rich smile. "Maybe I could get used to this." she said as she snuggled in closer. Chapter 77 (by me) Eden had gotten away from them. It simply couldn't be helped. Chroias and Nefret had tried to distract her as long as possible, but when Eden had had enough, the girls couldn't keep her there any longer without looking suspicious. The two friends stood leaning against the doorway of Roias's room nervously awaiting sounds of a struggle. But instead the sound of whistling echoed through the palace halls. Zak turned the corner positively strutting like a roster. "Well that answers my question." Nef breathed and uncrossed her arms. "Mother, Auntie. Nice night isn't it?" Zak stopped in front of the woman. "I take it everything went alright? You didn't run into Eden?" Zak answered his mother with a toothy grin. They all entered the room. Moze was sitting with Tris, who was still a little girl. Though he never said so, everyone knew that she would be growing soon, and Moze wanted to make the most of what little time he had with his baby. With a florish Zak produced three flowers from the garden. Tris took hers happily, but Nef and Chroias were hesitant. "How does it work? Does it squirt water, or have a bee in it. Or does it just explode?" Nefret inquired gingerly turning the flower over in her hand. "Oh Auntie! I told you no pranks for a month!" He sighed happily and plopped into the couch. Both girls shrugged and placed the flower behind their ears. "I hope you gave Domdi a similar gift." Chroias sat across from him. "Good thing the royal tailor is so slow." Nef noted. "We still have another day or so to stay her. Than again if Tris grows soon it could be longer." Nef ruffled the child's hair, which Tris didn't mind so much since her Auntie always took the time to smooth it back out again. Zak frowned noticeably. "Well with our treaty with Agrabah we could always come for visits." Roias pointed out. Mozenrath had been silent for all of this but finally he spoke. "No! I do not wish to enter Agrabah unless I have to!" Moze blurted. Everyone frowned at him. "All right. Then the answer is simple. Domdi can come for visits at the Citadel. We just have to tell Eden!" Nef chimed in, hoping the fear of the female genie would override his hatred of Aladdin. "Tell Eden what?" Came a voice from the door. Everyone looked to Jasmine and her swelling belly. Chapter 78 (by kalynn) Chroias desperately fumbled for an explanation. "Umm...." she looked desperately at Nefret. For once thought Nefret didn't have a brilliant plan to save them trouble. "Jasmine darling...." "My brother has a girlfriend." Tris smiled even as her father gave her a harsh look. Jasmine smiled in an understanding way. "Oh does he now?" she gave a warm smile to Zak. "I can't say I blame the girl who fancy him." "Yeah and her name is..." Tris was forced to silence herself as Nefret shoved another leftover sticky bun into her mouth. As she glared at her Auntie Nef angrily she mentally sent her mother an angry image. "You know kids always rambling." Chroias said as she guided Jasmine out to the patio. "So I see someone's coming along rather nicely." she pointed to the belly. "You know what we aught a do." Nefret suggested. "We aught have a baby shower. We never did one for the twins." she put her head to one side. "And it'll be the perfect way to seal the treaty for Mozenrath to bless the child." Chroias caught the idea and gave Mozenrath a you'd-better look. He gave her a half grin as though trying to profuse his innocence. Zak himself was still wearing the same grin. It was shocking the way the two looked alike. 'Thank god Zak got horns' she thought as Nefret gasped yet again. "Tris." she said as the small girl began to glow in her father's hands. The little girl threw her brother a nasty grin and stuck out her tongue. Chapter 79 (by me) Jasmine and the two girls entered back into the room. Tris has slipped out of her father's lap to stand proudly in front of the group. "Ever seen a miracle up close, princess?" Nefret inquired to the wide-eyed Jasmine. Tris's thin outline began to fade under the bright green glow. Chroias narrowed her eyes, but refused to close them. Just as before the process was a long one. So long that Zak sat back down with a huff. When the light finally dimmed everyone looked upon Tirs with tilted heads. Since Zak had grown up to be such a looker it was really no surprise that Tris should do so also. She was long and thin, with lanky arms and an all- together fragile frame. But her face seemed to make up for it. Big eyes, a delicate nose, high thin eyebrows, and sweetly shaped lips. Her face could be described as impish. She matched her mother's beauty, but did not surpass it. "Well it looks like your Auntie Nef is going to have to get out the shears again." Chroias embraced her girl and tugged at her slightly long hair. Nefret's eyes rolled to Jasmine, who's mouth stood open rather dumbly. She chuckled. "Just be grateful you child wont grow so fast." She whispered as she pointed out Mozenrath who had a half proud half mourning look on his face. Tris looked to her brother. "Well looks like I did just as well as you!" she smiled. Zak rolled her eyes and crossed his arms. "Oh brother, that is so childish." Tris quipped. Revenge was so sweet! The next morning all the girls stood in front of the mirror primping themselves for the start of the all day baby shower. They had put on their best, Chroias wore a black off the shoulder dress with her hair tied into a complicated bun. Nefret had on a pair of dark blue harem pants with a black and blue top with a double sleeve design, obviously a Mozenrath special. Tris had come up with a blue Greek top and a nicely shaped black skirt that dragged the ground a bit. "Are we even invited to this thing?" Zak whispered to his father as they eyed the women. "Not the gift giving part that 'strictly woman's territory'. But after that there'll be a party for everyone." Mozenrath gave a snort and walked away. Chapter 80 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath managed to disappeared into the shadows as the girls went wild over Jasmine and the bulging stomach. A smiled as he remembered what Chroias had promised him if he remained a good boy. Really he knew that he didn't want to be in Agrabah any longer then necessary, but hey if Chroias kept these incentives up... Also she seemed to have found a rather intriguing if skimpy outfit she claimed came from something called Moulin Rouge?? Grinning to himself, Mozenrath found the excuse to wander from the party, Tris noticing her father sulk out, followed immediately. Mozenrath didn't notice his daughter until he was in the market place. "I though you were at the party." he said to the teen that stood before him. "It got boring." she simply stated and immediately walked over beside him. "Whatcah doing?" she asked in such a childlike fashion that her father smiled. "Wandering the streets." Mozenrath stated simply as he caught his daughter glancing at a pair of women. Well not specifically at the women, rather at their earrings. He had never liked those odd bulky things most Arab women wore, but if that was what Tristram wanted... Tris hugged her father as he waited beside her at the piercing booth. She winced slightly as a small pop went of and the two studs of gold shone brightly in her pale ears. But the smile on her face made up for the twenty denari it was costing him. "You aughta get your ear pierced daddy." Tris said and giggled as her father turned beet red. "Tris I think I'm a bit old to be..." "Aww come on daddy, it's cool. Besides Zak wears 'em you don't want to be out done by your own son do you?" Tris said knowing it would hook him. "Oh My Gods." Nefret said as she looked up at Mozenrath. The sorcerer shrugged as Tris proudly showed off the two earrings she wore and the one silver stud her father had been talked into putting in his own ear. Zak for one managed to look as though he approved and Chroias just toyed with the stud momentarily. "I like it." she said as Nefret collapsed in a chair laughing. "I mean you actually went and got a piercing. It's ....kakkoi." she muttered in some unknown language. Mozenrath let himself smile, glad to see she approved. Aladdin looked at the earring and almost laughed. He barely managed to hold it in. In fact only a look from Jasmine made him subdue it. He gave Mozenrath a curt nod even though he was aware that the sorcerer didn't really care about his opinion. Chapter 81 (by me) Mozenrath sat there shoving in the cake it warp speed. Obviously hoping he could leave as soon as he was done. Nefret was eating rather gingerly (for once in her life) she had her eye on Mozenrath's ear. He had tired hide it begin his hair and the folds of his turban, but it was obviously turning a brilliant shade of red. Tris was to busy fingering her ears to eat much of anything. With a sigh Nef turned her attention to her meal. Chroias was also keeping a watchful eye on a male member of the party, but not Mozenrath, Zak. He and Domdi had been exchanging small secret glances all the way through dinner. If they didn't watch it they'd out themselves. Finally all the festivities were done and curt addresses had been passed around the group dispersed. Moze and Roais into their room, Zak informed his aunt he would be in the garden, no doubt Domdi had said the same thing to Eden. Tris trotted off with her nursemaids who's attention she still enjoyed, and Jasmine off to rest. Nefret stood in the ballroom picking over the remnants of the banquet. Aladdin entered and cleared his throat, Nef turned to him. "Hey." Al greeted. Nef smiled and swallowed her last bite of bread. "Hey, So everyone left ya to eh?" she joked. Aladdin laughed slightly and scratched his head. Nef caught onto his edginess. "So what can I do for ya?" "Well I, I wanted to ask you about. Exactly how hard is it to raise kids?" the hero asked bluntly catching the plum-haired girl off guard. "It all depends. I suppose in my short experience with the twins I can tell you not to expect to sleep a lot, watch out for sibling rivalry (though I hope you only have one) and above all else, watch you back!" Nefret grimaced as she remembered some of Zak's finer stunts. Aladdin nodded in acknowledgment and walked away inviting Nefret to come along. She accepted.  
  
Aladdin insisted to Nefret the gender of the child wasn't important, but she could tell he wanted a son. They chatted idly when all of the sudden a surprised yell came from the garden. A yell that sounded suspiciously like it might belong to a certain green genie. "What was that?" Al turned to Nefret who placed her head in her hands and said nothing. Chapter 82 (by kalynn) Chroias heard the scream and looked at Mozenrath. They both jumped from the couch, (were I will not explain what they were doing there), and ran for the door. Mozenrath made it down to the garden to find a very mad Eden hovering over top of a very scared looking Zak. Mozenrath hesitated remembering the last encounter he'd had with Eden, but Chroias pushed straight through. "What is going on here?" she said as loudly as she could just as Nefret and Aladdin rounded the corner together.  
  
Eden turned and looked at the demoness, then at Zak. Obviously noticing for the first time the similarities between Zak and his father and his mother. A shocked look overcame her face. "Domdi!" she said in a scolding voice. The young girl blushed and hung onto Zak's arm. "He's a nice guy really Eden." she said as Zak finally got to his feet. "He isn't as bad as..." she hesitated to name certain parties present. "He's not as bad as all that." she said firmly. Zak stood beside her. "I'm not." he said shrugging as though even he didn't really believe it. Mozenrath finally decided to intervene. "Kids why don't let the grown-ups handle it." he shoed the two away. Zak gave his father a questioning look. "It'll be fine." Chroias confirmed and let the two go. Everyone waited till the two were out of site, then it was like bomb shell dropping. "Mozenrath tell me why your son is with my baby?" Eden snarled in his face. Thank gods and all that Mozenrath managed to keep a straight face. "Well you know how sorcerers are." Chapter 83 (by me) Eden's face reddened. "No, why don't you tell me how they are! And perhaps I'll show you exactly how genies are!" the woman took a step forward, but was interrupted as Aladdin stepped between them. She looked at him in surprise. "What's going on here?" Al tired to diffuse the situation. "Don't play dumb street rat." Mozenrath groaned sparing him a withering glance. Aladdin's mouth twitched slightly but he remained silent. "I don't see what all the fuss is about. Everyone has had their own childhood crushes. Puppy love is a right of passage!" Chroias gave a wave of her and as if to brush it off. "Not my Domdi. Not with.. Him anyways." The female genie snorted, letting her address of Zak carry all her emotion. Nefret could see the rage boiling in her demonic friend. If something wasn't done Eden would look like an advertisement for a meat grinder. "Zak is a fine young man, despite an appearance that may state otherwise. I'll admit he's a bit of a prankster, but nothing worse. He was raised well, and I hand my own hand in his up bringing. I know him, and he will be nothing but a gentleman to your daughter Eden." Nefret winded on until it seemed Chroias had composed herself. The demon smiled slightly at the flabbergasted face an Eden. Mozenrath shoed Nefret aside and took her place in front of Eden. "You can't find fault with that reasoning. There is peace between our two lands now, and like it or not, we have a right to be here. And Domdi has a right to see and court whom she wishes. That is unless you have subjected her to the old practice of an arranged marriage?" Mozenrath ginned, knowing a woman as headstrong as Eden would implement no such tradition. A serene smile graced Eden's lips. "I see. She does have her rights. But lets face it would a girl like domdi really go for a demon who's parentage once tired to take the life of her mother? I think she'll come out of it, once she sees the light." "You wouldn't poison her mind!" Nefret gasped angrily. "It's not poison if it's the truth!" Eden quipped and walked away, knocking Mozenrath's shoulder as she did. It was only be extreme self control that he let her continue. Chroias placed a comforting hand on his arms. Aladdin looked to Nefret, but she refused to look at him, concern wracked her face and her hands worried themselves over the other. Aladdin suddenly got a clear understanding of things, or at least what he considered clear. He turned to the sorcerer. "I know we had an agreement, but don't think for a second I trust you. I've known you to long to do that! If this is one of your tricks, there will be hell to pay. And I will be the reaper." His gaze shot to Nefret to confirm his suspicions. But her eyes only narrowed at him and her lips turned into a tight frown. Getting the feeling he had spoken to soon he turned and marched away. Domdi turned her gaze from her lap to Zak. "They're not very happy about this." He didn't turn to her. She lowered her eyes once more. "I don't care. I want to see you. Even if we have to sneak out of the city to get some peace." Zak's tone was serious. Domdi looked doubtful and happy all at the same moment. Chapter 84 (by kalynn) Zak clasped Domdi's hand in his. "How about an official date?" he suggested. "Ya know you me under the stars a nice dinner. Ya like Chinese?"  
  
Domdie blushed. "I love Chinese" she agreed to meet him outside the city walls for an official date. Nefret only wished her life could be so easy. Eden had NOT been happy about the budding romance. Not happy at all. Genie had managed to cool her temper, but she was still not pleased. Aladdin...well Al wasn't saying much of anything. Nefret sided up to her friend. "I know I know. This is what I've had to live with for the past few years." Nefret said jokingly. Aladdin sighed and smiled gently at Nefret. "Nef how do people like us get mixed up in situations like this?" he asked. "Fate likes to screw with us." Nefret answered as Jasmine appeared around the corner. She smiled pleasantly at Nefret and pulled her husband aside. Leavening Nefret, for the first time in a long time with nothing to do. Tris however, was more then happy to come to her auntie's aid. "Hey Auntie." she said in her whimsical voice. "You ok?" Nefret nodded. "Just a bit downtrodden." "Well you know, while all the guys are busy, why don't you mom and I sneak off for a vacation." "Only one problem." Nefret pointed to her anklet. "Oh no problem." she snapped her fingers in a royal way. " I can get daddy to undo it." she curled a lump of her auntie's hair. "You know he loves me sooooooooo much." "Yeah cause your just as manipulative as he is." Tris gave a sweet smile. "Of course." Chapter 85 (by me) Zak looked at Domdi's features as the shadows of the soft light played over the plane of her face. She was rather clumsily bringing food to her mouth with the chopsticks. A noodle snaked off the sticks to land with a splash into her won-ton soup. She gave him a don't-you-say-a-damn-thing look. Zak took in the look and grew somber quickly looking back to his chow mane. "You know... Tomorrow I head home." He breathed. Domdi nodded and gave a sad little smile. "I know. You can't say forever. You belong with your father and your mother, and you aunt. But surly you don't think I'm gona give up that easily!" She stabbed a shrimp completely giving up on the 'traditional' way of eating with chopsticks. Zak looked rather amused. "Daddy!!!" Tris sang rather childishly as she entered the room. He looked up with raised eyebrows. Nefret walked in just in time to see Chroias throw herself away from Mozenrath onto another couch. "What is it Tris?" Moze asked clearing his throat rather uncomfortably. Tris paid little to no attention to what she had obviously interrupted. "I've just had a thought. I thought it might be nice for us girls" she gave a broad swoop around the room. "To take a little holiday to somewhere nice!" Chroias smiled approvingly. Moze's mouth pulled to one side in thought. He had gotten so used to the company of the girl (not wholly by choice mind you) but a break would be nice. Without distraction he and Zak could do some serious training. Moze sat back and gave an indifferent shrug. "Good!" Tris cried as she pulled Nefret forward, placing her before her father. Moze looked at Nefret than at Tris. The young girl pointed to her aunt's ankle. Mozenrath frowned. The anklet was Nefret's ball and chain, it kept her from passing outside the Land of the Black Sand without him. But when in other lands with him, it kept her at least on a short leash. She could only travel about 10 miles from him before she was stopped in a not so nice fashion. Removing it would give her complete freedom. Something he didn't really trust her with. "Please?" Tris whined and gave the sad puppy eyes. God, she knew how to get him. He growled slightly and pulled Nef's foot from under her. Luckily she was close enough to fall into the couch. He began to swivel and move the ruby in a practiced dance while at the same time mumbling something. Nefret hovered over him, trying to pick up on his movements. But he gave her a warning glare and she shrunk back. Chapter 86 (by kalynn)  
  
Nefret closed her eyes as the green and grey smoke swirled around her. She blinked back dust as a familiar feeling soother around her. "You didn't" Chroias smiled at her friend. "I did." Nefret almost lost it and went ahead anyways. "I can't believe you got me to Egypt." It was true the sights and smells were the same as she remembered them. Stands full of great food and fine silk cloths piled up around them. Nefret grabbed Tris's hand. "Come on girl We've got shopping to take care of." Chroias was caught in Nefret's excitement as well and immediately pulled out her coin. bag. "I've got mad money." She hollered. Not even an hour later all three girls were dress in Egyptian finery. Nefret was pleased with her choice of clothing for the two ladies, and was even more satisfied with their human disguises. Tris, had decided to keep her black hair as where her mother had opted for a bright brassy red. Both demoness's now sported unsettling blue green eyes and light mahogany akin close to Nefret's color. They were giggling and all talking and having a fine time when a slight push from in front sent Nefret sprawling on the ground. "Watch were your going!" she shouted at the man in front of her. "Nefret??" Came a masculine, and very familiar voice. "Oh by Hourus." Nefret placed her hand over her mouth in shock Chapter 87 (by me)  
  
Nefret struggled to get into a sitting position. In a flash she was looking up at a familiar face. As usual his short spiky dark brown hair peeked out of his slightly lop sided plated wig. His eyes were a familiar shape, much like Nefret's but overturned and where lined heavily with broad lines extending out of each corner. A crooked foolish grin spread across his face. "Well hey there stranger. Never thought I'd see you again!" He offered her his hand. Nefret just stared at him with a pout. How in the hell could he be so calm about the situation? "Why of why do I have to have such an obstinate woman for a little sister?" He rolled his eyes and grabbed her under each arm, pulling her into a bear hug. "Why oh why do I have to have such smug ass as a brother?" Nefret punched him in the shoulder playfully. "Ahem." Chroias cleared her throat. Nefret looked back at her friend. "Anyone want to clue me in?" She eyed the man with a cocked eyebrow. "Oh of course. This is Apepe. My half brother, the product of one of my fathers teen hood indiscretions." Nefret explained suddenly serious. "I never knew about him until a few years ago when he sent word to the Citadel to make his existence known. I never knew he was the message boy until I read the note. By that time he was long gone." She looked down. "Hey now, it's alright. Were her now. And it looks like you got out of the grasp of that yellow bellied lying conniving bastered Moze.." He was cut off as Nefret's elbow made contact with his stomach. "No actually. Apepe, this is Chroias and her daughter Tristram, the girlfriend and daughter of Mozenrath and my friends. Moze trusted me to their care for a little vacation!" "Oh sorry." He looked sheepish. "Nice to meet you both." He suavely kissed both Roias's and Tris's hands, giving the young Tris the giggles. "Well than, it is my duty to take care of my young sister and her friends while they are here! Anyone up for dinner? I know a great little place near the temple." "When did you get money like that that?" Nefret eyed his humble robe. "Last I heard you were running messages for rich men." "I got some money tucked away for a rainy day. Not everything is as it seems ya know!" He motioned for them to follow. "Don't have to tell me twice." Nefret ran her finger tips through Chroias's red hair. Everyone was chowing down on roasted meat and bread a few minuets later. Chroias swallowed the last bite. "So we left Zak and Mozey back in Agrabah." She finished explaining her story of how Nefret and her had become friends. She had of course left out some key elements that hinted at her identity. No need in scaring the boy. "Why don't you tell me about yourself." Tris said in a small cute voice. Apepe grinned and began to tell of his great adventures as a messenger boy and how he bravely suck into the Land of the Black Sand to see his sister. Both Chroias and Nefret rolled their eyes. Chapter 88 (by kalynn) Chroias watched the two chat. She had to admit that the boy seemed nice enough, despite how danmdebly cocky he was. 'And what kind of ego does Mozenrath have?' she chided herself for being hypocritical. Anywho, Tris had her eyes focused directly on Apepe's nicely formed deltoids and biceps.  
  
'Still I prefer Moze.' Chroias sighed as Nefret returned to the table. "Regrets?" The plum haired girl asked. "No. But your half bro may have a few if Moze finds out about this fiasco. More overly out of concern for the fact that that tanned Adonis is YOUR BROTHER." Chroias grinned at her friend. "And just what are you insinuating?" Nefret said with mild shock. "That because He's my HALF brother He'll be more inclined to make questionable mischief then if he were say ZAKURUM???" Nefret watched as Chroias arched an eyebrow. "I'm not insinuating, I'm saying it." Chroias ducked as a handful of pomegranate juice floated her way. Immediately she retaliated. By throwing some strawberries into Nef's face. Nefret giggled as they fought. It had been to long since the opportunity for some good honest fun popped up. And they were intending to enjoy it. Unfortunately, this was not to be. "MOM!" Tris called for her mother as Chroias and Nefret came over. The young girl had turned a bright shade of pink. "Mom something's wrong at home." She said with a warning voice. "What do you mean wrong baby?" Chroias asked gently, glancing carefully at Apepe who was watching Nefret. "Ummm, from the mental pic my dear brother Zak is sending me....I think he and Domdi have been caught in...premarital consultation." Tris gave her mother a meaningful look. "Oh No!!" Nefret swallowed. "It gets worse." Tris confirmed. "Eden caught them." Nefret gripped Chroias "AGRABAH NOW!" Chapter 89 (by me) Chroias pulled Nefret aside and away from the hearing range of both Tris and Apepe. "What about HIM?" She whispered picking food from her hair. Nefret's face twisted in thought as she eyed Tris sneaking looks at her half brother. "Well, I don' know.. Moze doesn't know about him yet..But oh boy with Eden we're going to need all the help we can get!" Nefret finished. Chroias shrugged. "It's on your head." Chroias said as the group disappeared in a puff of green smoke. The place was in total chaos! Servants running around trying to fix trashed rooms, the apparent aftermath of a certain female genie hunting down a certain green-eyed demon. Yells, roars, crash, whining and crying were heard from the throne room. "I think we found them." Tris stated the obvious as the girls walked down the hall. Apepe sort of stumbled behind. "How did we get here? Why is Chroias's hair green now? Those aren't horns are they?!!! Did I just see fangs in Tris's mouth?" Apepe rambled on confused. Nefret and Chroias spun around simultaneously. "Will you shut up?" Both girls hissed in unison. They looked to each other and laughed slightly before continuing. "Now dear girl will you put that vase d-down?" The sultan was trying to negotiate with the irate genie, but it wasn't working. "Please stop Eden!" Domdi cried glomming onto her saraget mother pleadingly. "Yes Eden do be compliant." Mozenrath stood protectively close to his son. "This can't be put on Zak's shoulder' souly. It takes two to tango! The girl wasn't exactly protesting!" Eden let out an ungodly yell and prepared to zap the two to hell. Then she caught sight of the three girls and Apepe standing in the doorway. Mozenrath also looked over. His expression almost suggested he was glad to see them. "OUT! I want them ALL OUT! I want this hormone driven problem child out, and his villainous father, the she-devils of a mother and sister." Eden pointed as she named them all. "The obstinate shrew of an aunt, and." she stuttered as her finger fell upon Apepe. "and. and . him OUT!!!!!" "Sorry Eden, We have a treaty with Agrabah. I have the right to be here, whether you like it or not! So does Domdi!" Zak growled, he had had about enough of this. "I don't think so!" Eden growled back deadly serious. She began to glow and everyone tensed knowing what was about to happen. The energy around her snapped into the form of a dragon's head and neck. It shot forward, pulling the rest of its body out of the female genie. Mozenrath grabbed his son and they both hit the deck. Aladdin finally stepped forward. "Stay out to this street rat!" Moze lifted Al into the air with invisible hands and set him unto the throne, where he was held. Father and son scrabbled to their feet and slung a quick blast at Eden, she barley dodged it and her shoulder was slightly singed. Again she prepared herself and shot at Moze and his son again. But unknown to her Chroias was simultaneously preparing herself. The green energy tentacled out of her, than wrapped around each other and speed forward. The two energy's crashed into each other and set the other off course. They ricocheted around the room a few times, Chroias's bolt imbedded into the floor. Eden however imbedded into domdi's leg. The girl fell back in pain. Eden looked to her adopted child and sputtered for a moment then turned back to Mozenrath. She found that Chroias had joined Mozenrath's side, Nefret and Tris were helping a stunned Zak to his feet, and Apepe was hanging behind his sister completely dumbfounded. "Look what you made me do!!!!" Eden screeched and lunged at the collective group, not really caring who she got a hold of. Chapter 90 (by kalynn) Chroias shoved Nefret out of the way. "Shit the genies gone ape!!!" she yelled over the din. Nefret growled out something Chroias was sure she didn't wanna know. "Any ideas?" "Not unless you think your daughter can take on a Phenomenal cosmic power!" Nef shouted back. "And get her for calling me a SHREW" "Better shot then the one we got now!" Chroias crawled over under Eden's destruction till she reached Tris's side. "Baby, do you think you can curb some of her power?" she asked her daughter with hope. "I can give it a wild shot but I'm not sure." Tris looked over for where her brother was and mentally asked him to look over at her. A harsh jab of pain hit her as she realized her brother was holding an injured Domdi. "Mom try to get over to Domdi and Zak. She's hurt real bad." Tris stood against the gale force wind that was beginning to rip around the female genie. Chroias nodded to her daughter. She crawled around the broken objects and had almost reached Zak as a gloved hand pulled her back. "What are you doing?" Mozenrath shouted into her ears. "I went through hell...literally!!! To keep you, You think I'm gonna let some psychopathic genie get ..." "Your one to talk about psychopaths!!" Chroias yelled at her lover. "Why didn't you stop him?" "Did it ever occur to you dearest that it was because I DIDN'T KNOW?" Mozenrath grabbed Chroias and pulled her down. "You see if you can help Tris with Eden, I'll go see what can be done for Domdi." To Chroias's surprise, Mozenrath planted a quick kiss on her lips. "Welcome home." he said sarcastically. Chapter 91 (by me) Tristram's eyes were closed, her hair whipped around her and stung her face. She was concentrating will all her being, letting her abilities take over completely. Her arms raised and her fists clenched. Eden yelped as her feet left the ground and her arms plastered against her side. She seemed confused for a moment and the roar of wind and power made on last run around the room before it died out. A rope was suddenly tossed at Nefret, but she caught it. The plum haired girl looked to Chroias and quickly got the gist of her plan. Nef split the rope and handed an end to Apepe. He followed the girl's example as they lopped the ends into a lasso. Mozenrath joined his son's side and gave Domdi a quick once over. Her face was marred with pain, the blast had gone completely through her leg leaving no opening, but had most defiantly burned her muscle and bone as much as it had her skin. Moze carefully pressed his gloved hand to the abrasion; it felt soft and slightly squishy. Domdi let out an agonized roar. Chroias threw her rope and let the loop fall to Eden's ankles and then quickly tugged it tight. A millisecond later Nefret's rope caught around her waist forcing her arms into her sides as far as they would go. Apepe got her around the shoulder and chest than all three ran a path around her. The ropes twisted around Eden and in no time she looked like some bizarre May pole. And just in time to, Trist let out her breath and fell to her knees, unable to carry on anymore. Eden fell screaming and writhing to the ground. "Semi phenomenal and she can't break hemp ropes?" Nefret finally voiced her uncertainty of the plan. "That's no hemp! It's anti magic material! Apepe, hand me your robe tie." He did and the demon fixed it over the cursing genie's mouth. Findlay it was relatively quite. Green smoke swirled around the bound genie, and when it cleared she was gone. "Where did you put her?" Apepe looked slightly amused. "Oh, just somewhere that will take her a few days to get back!" Chroias gave a broad grin. A cry caught everyone's attention. The three joined Domdi's side. Mozenrath had done his best with a healing spell and was wrapping her leg tightly in bandages. With a sigh Mozenrath sat back on his heals and Domdi forced a brave smile. Zak wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Hey now, stop that! That's what got all this started ya know!" Tris playfully teased her brother. Everyone giggled slightly. "So little sis, this is your life eh?" Apepe put an arm around Nefret and tugged her close. "Yep, this is pretty much it. Wanna be a full time part of it?" Nef jabbed him in the ribs. "HELL NO!!!!!" Apepe roared and ran his knuckles over her scalp roughly. Chapter 92 (by Kalynn) Chroias smiled over at Apepe. He seemed to be taking the news rather well. Not happily, but rather well. Nefret joined her friend. "Is this ever gonna stop?" She asked and smoothed out her plum hair. "Damn straight it is!" Came a familiar voice. Mozenrath grabbed Chroias around the waist and grabbed Nefret's arm. "We are going back to the Citadel." He gave his children curt nod. Zak suddenly turned a slight red. "Well ummm." he looked over at Domdi. "Since Eden isn't going to be around for a bit....." Domdi gave a slight grin. "See dad..." "I get it." Mozenrath said in an almost proud way. "You intend to make a second attempt." Mozenrath shrugged and looked over at Tris. She didn't respond , only gave Apepe a casual glance. Mozenrath noticed the small resemblance between Nef and Apepe and gave his minion a sharp glance. Don't even start it. This was so not my fault." Nefret began. "Save it." Mozenrath said to tired to argue. "I just want to get home." The three returned to the citadel. Nefret sighed, she somehow found the dark walls and corridors comforting now. "Good to be home." she said as Anubis came running to greet her. "Anubis!" she wrapped her arms around the dog as it licked her face. Mozenrath felt Chroias light touch on his darier. "Yes?" he said putting a small smile on his face. "It's been to long." Chroias said simply and, after giving Nefret a quick, "Ya might want to stay out of the corridors tonight." She retreated upstairs with Mozenrath. 


	7. Patron7

Patron part 7 Previously: Chroias, Nefret and Mozenrath have had many adventures: a fight with Aladdin, Nefret and Xerxes were banished, but brought back one way or another, Nefret had been knocked into a coma for a while, Mozenrath had twins with Chroias (Tristram and Zakurum), And Zakurum found his first crush, Domdi. But Domdi's genie mother Eden didn't like the situation to much. After a thrilling fight Moze and Co. come out victorious and Zak stays with Domdi (for now at least) Mozenrath, Chroias, and Nefret return to the Citadel hoping for some peace (muhahahahaah) Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content. Much thanks goes out to LuLu mailto:anime_kitty03@yahoo.com who so kindly suggested both the plot and character for the next story line about the assassin Nemisis! It was fun to mix things up a bit with outside help and fresh ideas :D While both Chroias and I drew up Nemisis's physical description, since she can into being through LuLu the character ultimately belongs to her. Enjoy the exciting new story! Chapter 93 (by me)  
  
A deep sigh registered from the dark throne of Hades. Nemisis raised an eyebrow than flipped her pride and joy, her hair. It was a mix of colors, starting from a golden yellow at the bottom, than going thorough the gamete of oranges and reds till it was pitch black at the roots. 'Flame colored hair' was never so literal. "And the problem would be?" Nemisis asked after Hades grudgingly explained the situation. "The problem is" Hades growled "that that damned cocky sorcerer defiled my only daughter than saddled her with twin havlings! That is now what I had in mind for her!!!!" "What's done is done. Not even you can do much about the twins now. Besides, I'm guessing she's happy with them." "I am her father I know what's best for her. It is true there isn't much I can do about the twins but.... their father on the other hand." He leaned forward and gave the woman a wicked grin. "I see." Nemisis gave an equally wicked grin. "What ever you wish my lord." "Oh and Nemisis, try to be discreet this time." Chroias lay awake very late that night, or maybe early the next morning (they had lost track of time) looking at the half asleep Mozenrath. Her eyebrows flexed worriedly. "Hey" she shook him awake and he groaned groggily. "Do you feel alright?" He only grumbled in response. "Huh, I feel like something is wrong." Mozenrath suddenly pulled her down. "Don't you DARE say that!" Nefret was asleep with Anubis resting his head on her side. The hound suddenly sat up and gave a little growl. "Shut up!" Nef moaned and pulled the pillow over her head. Chapter 94 (by Kalynn)  
  
Nemisis yawned as she landed in the citadel. "Well well well. Nice digs." she murmured. Her hair trailed out behind her as she walked the corridors. She looked about with pure black eyes and giggled as she smelled something. "To bad all demons smell like brimstone." she let out another maniacal giggle and floated up the stairs. Nefret heard Anubis start growling at the door. His ears were pressed against his head in a dangerous fashion and he jerked his head in odd ways. "Anubis settle down." she said gently. A sudden crash echoed in the halls. "Anubis." Nefret leaped out of bed. The door opened just in time for Nefret to see a shadow disappear down the halls. "Roias!" she yelled suddenly. This whole thing gave her a bad feeling. "Mozenrath." Nefret called louder as she knocked on their door. She was rather surprised when Mozenrath opened the door, wearing a very revealing black robe and gave her a dark look. "Yes." He growled out as though Nefret had interrupted something very important. "Is there something you would like?" Nefret pointed down the halls. "I saw something." She said feeling rather stupid at such a childish statment. Mozenrath growled and he began to close the door. Just then a sharp yelp tore down the hall. Nefret didn't wait for Mozenrath or Chroias. She ran to her room only to find a blood covered Anubis whining for her help. Chapter 95 (by me)  
  
Mozenrath and Chroias raced down the hall after the retreating shadow of Nefret. By the time they saw her again she was kneeling over the bloody form of Anubis. The hound's whines of panic had been soothed by the presence of his master and her comforting words, but nothing could soothe the pain. "Who did this?" Mozenrath seemed to ask to no one in particular. "You said you saw something?" He knelt next to his minion. She nodded a yes. "Than come on, we have to go find it, leave him here for now." He tugged at her shoulder as he got up. "NO!!! No, I'm not leaving him! Not when he's hurt. I've had Anubis since I was 6, nearly 11 years!!! I'm not leaving him in his dyeing hour!" Nefret slapped Mozenrath's hand away. Chroias gathered the dog in her arms, careless of the damage to her nightgown. "Anubis will be just fine. You know I have tricks up my sleeve." Chroias stated as the green smoke rose around them. The group appeared again in the master bedroom of the Citadel. Anubis was set on the bed and Chroias went to the chest. "Remember these?" She waved a bottle of golden liquid in front of Nef. "The Phoenix tears!! I had completely forgotten." Nefret threw her arms around the demoness. "God, now I know why I love you like my sister!" Mozenrath nearly choked at the sentiment. "Is someone forgetting the dog?" the sorcerer made a disgusted face at the sappy scene. Both girls snapped back into serious mode. After a few moments of mumbled words and movements on Chroias's part, Anubis let out a happy cry and jumped off the bed. "I tell ya, if you were available more often mummification would go out of business!" Nefret cracked, she was back to her old self, just like her pet. "We may all need a few more of those tears if we don't find who did this." Mozenrath reminded the girls. "Who says you have to find out?" A voice from behind made them all jump. "Like it's a big mystery. I'll tell you the answer!" Everyone turned around to the owner of the voice. Chroias's eyebrows furrowed in slight reconization. "It was ME!" The flame haired demon announced proudly. Chapter 96 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias felt her rage enter. Nefret stood back in shock at the low, venomous growl that escaped her lips. "Nemisis." she hissed. Chroias's claws suddenly seemed to grow larger and her tail twitched in a deadly fashion. Her teeth began to lengthen and her horns grew. "What are you doing here?" she snarled in a voice Nefret didn't think her capable of. "Oh nothing, chaos disorder, malfunction." She shrugged. "The usual." "In other words my father sent you." she snarled and made a deadly swipe at the other demoness. "Get down here and fight like a real demon." Chroias snarled as Nemisis climbed higher in the air. "Nananan. Come and get me!!!!" She called in annoying voice from up in the rafters. Chroias snarled again and looked at Mozenrath with his gauntlet blazing. "No!" She shouted and clutched his hand. "This is a demon battle. You aren't allowed to interfere." she told him and looked at Nefret. "You might want to have your dagger ready. Nemisis is a little bitch, but her aerial tactics are some of the best." Chroias concentrated and shocked Nefret even further as two bat like wings broke through her skin. "Back in a flash." As she launched herself into the air, Nefret could have sworn she heard the demoness say 'I hope.' Nefret turned her attention to a worried looking Mozenrath. "She'll be ok." Nef tried to assure him. "Of course she'll be ok!!!" He said as though trying to convince himself of it. "You weren't around when she had to pull me out of Tarturus. Chroias can handle herself. Again Nefret heard 'I hope.' Chapter 97 (by me)  
  
Chroias entered into the maze of the rafters and landed gingerly on one. Using all her demon senses she tried to find which dark corner Nemisis was hiding in. 'Nothing, nothing, no.' her instincts told her as she looked around. 'BEHIND YOU!' But it was a bit to late. Nemisis plowed into the green haired demon sending her off the beam. Roais turned around in midair and grabbed for the other demon before she could get away. Nemisis was caught by the ankle but fought to gain height. She succeeded in pulling away, but Chroias left several deep gashes in her skin. Mozenrath and Nefret both stood below looking up. Suddenly Mozenrath pulled Nefret to one side and out of the way of a thick dark sticky substance dripping down from the rafters. Nefret looked at it with a scrunched up nose. "Demon blood." Mozenrath explained. "But who's?" Nefret looked back up into the dark rafters. "I'll be right back." Nefret suddenly disappeared out the door. Mozenrath did little to stop her. Chroias looked at the black eyes of Nemisis smiling down at her, she made a come-and-get-me gesture. Both demons gave a determined face and raced at each other in a deadly game of chicken. Neither of them pulled back and the two meet in a clash of powers. Chroias's green powers mixing with the red energies of Nemisis, lighting the room in a strange color. Nefret return caring a cocked crossbow. She took aim at the evil demon. "What do you think your doing?" Moze forced her to lower it. "She said not to interfere! I know it's hard to just sit and watch, but we have to have faith in Chroias. She'll beat that bitch!" He assured her as Nefret surrendered the cross bow to him. Up in the rafters Nemisis's ears perked. "Bitch?!" She yelled, and before Chroias could stop her the made a buzz dive at the Sorcerer's head. Instinctively Moze raised the crossbow in defense and fired it almost blindly. Luckily the arrow imbedded into her left wing. Nemisis's torso snapped back, following with the arrow, her feet swung up kicking Mozenrath in the face. He fell back and the crossbow skittered to Nefret. Nemisis fumbled a bit as she was pinned to the wall by the arrow through her wing. Nefret quickly reloaded the crossbow and shot another arrow at the demon, driving her right wing into the wall. Nemisis now stood plastered to high on the wall like some bizarre butterfly on display. Chroias grinned. Chapter 98 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias landed besides Nefret and gave her a slightly harsh look. "You shouldn't have interfered." she said and added a smile to show she was thankful. Mozenrath gripped her arm suddenly and looked worriedly at the slashes. His face turned a cold anger as he stared over at Nemisis, a bright ball of blue black magic flared at his hand and he sent it barreling toward her. "No!" Chroias shouted deflecting it just in time. "I may just be guessing here, but daddy dearest sent you didn't he?" Nemisis glared at Chroias with her blue eyes. "So what if he did?" "That would mean my father is still pissed at Mozenrath for wanting and sleeping with me." Chroias growled out. "THAT AND IMPREGNATION." Nemisis shouted out. "He's a mortal!! He isn't worth being allowed to lie with you in bed!!! It's an insult to all Demon kind!!" Nemisis snarled as her thin lips drew back into a grimace. She had an overly thin frame and face, but was surprisingly string considering it. "Hades is pissed at HIM not YOU!!" "Daddy wants to control my life!!!" Chroias shouted out as loud as her voice would go. "I swore to him once that I would be a coin to no god's treasure hold..." "So you choose a man's?!!" Nemisis laughed. "Not that I blame you, he is adorable." she gave Mozenrath a callous wink. Suddenly Nemisis ripped her wings from the arrows. Before she could be stopped, Nemisis grabbed Mozenrath around the neck. "Tell you what, you love this little sorcerer so much, come and get him!" She let out a low hard laugh." Better watch out, you know how I love to have fun with my men!" She planted a biting force kiss on Mozenrath just as Chroias screeched out in blood anger. "Come and get me!!!!" Nemisis disappeared in a ball of bright purple flame. Nefret picked up her cross bow and managed to fire a shot into the flames. "Damn it!" She looked over at Chroias. "Where would she take him?" "Just one place." Chroias said covering up the bloody gash in her arm "Delcurum" "Delcurum?" Nefret said in confusion. "Yes it's a place in the tropics. Very hot and Nemisis's favorite hang out." Chroias confirmed. Nefret nodded and then brought up a question. "What donyou think Nemisis will do to Mozenrath?" Chroias turned and looked at her dear friend. "Let's just say she has the idea of taking it where she can get it." Chroias felt her eyes grow hot and glow bright red. "If she tries any of her seductions on my Mozenrath......" Chroias launched a bright green fireball at a wall, incinerating it instantly. Nefret sighed. "Can you get us to Delcurum?" she asked. "Yes. But I have a friend were going to need." Chroias conjured up a ball of green magic and let it light the floor. An odd dog like shape gathered and began to materialize in front of them. "The only one who can smell out Nemisis's stink. Cerebus, the female gaurdian of Hell's gates!" Nefret stared as a three headed wolf like dog sniffed at her and let out a low growl. Chapter 99 (by me)  
  
Heat was something both girls were used to. Chroias lived either in hell most of her life, and Nefret had spent most of her live under the Egyptian sun. But Delcurum was getting to both the girl. The demon tugged through the foliage as Nefret followed behind wiping the sweat from her brow. "At least the desert is dry!." Nefret grumbled swinging angrily at the wisps of humidity. "If you want a break try riding Cerebus." Chroias joked. Nefret gave a look that made it clear she was in no mood for joking around. Chroias nodded in understanding. The hellhound caught a whiff of something and pulled more heavily on the chains Chroias held. "Alright, I think we've got something." She looked over to Nefret who was nervously tapping the hilt of her dagger against her leg. "Nervous?" "Me? No, no. I'm fine." Nefret was too transparent and she knew it. Chroias laughed along with Nefret, but they were broken off by a sharp growl. "Chroias has always a bit wild, a thorn in Hades side. He tries his best, but sometimes when she screws up it's time to... help rectify it." Nemisis ran a claw over Mozenrath's neck playfully. "Sleeping with a mortal?! I understand her though. I mean, if I had to choose between my daddy and YOU, I'm not exactly sure if I could stick to my guns. You must be special for her to throw her upbringing to the winds. I might just have to experiment to find out what it's all about." She gave a cat like grin and strutted by the little steamy pool and sat down. Mozenrath growled but sat still, he had no idea where he was. He would have to wait for Chroias to get there to even the odds. Then he would rip out this woman's throat! A sudden bark ran out. Nemisis shot to her feet. "They're here already? Did that damn girl bring her dog?" The three-headed hound burst out of the trees ready to pounce on it's pray. Cerebus had the scent of Nemisis, and it was driving her wild. Her target was so close! Chroias couldn't stop her as she slipped the collar and lunged at demon, seizing he in her massive teeth and shaking. The all was still and the dog let go. All gathered around the limp form of Nemisis. "Somehow I thought it would be harder than that." Moze mumbled as the body slipped off the bank and into the pool. "Oh it's not over yet." Chroias warned in a deep voice. "Take cover!" She pushed them behind a rock. The water burst into a mushroom cloud and Nemisis appeared on top if it high in the air. But Nemisis's chewed body was still floating in the waters. "Ok, I'm officially confused." Nef looked to Chroias as she always did in these situations. "Cerebus killed her physical body. Some demons can wear bodies like clothes, they're easily replicable. That," She pointed the Nemisis in the sky. "is her spectral body. Essentially her spirit. We have to kill off her spirit now. It's going to be much harder than her physical skin. And whatever you do, don't let her get back into her body. Every bit of weakness will count! Be a doll and take this Nef." Before she could protest Chroias shoved the reins of Cerebus into her hands. Chroias alighted into the air to join her enemy. Nefret noticed Mozenrath marching off the high point of the slight mountain near the pool. "Where are you going?" Nef asked as he passed. "To help Roais! What do you think?" he didn't even look at her. "What should I do?" "Take care of the dog!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Like hell I will!" she crossed her arms and then thought. "Alright, I'll make sure Nemisis can't get back into her body. Come on Cerebus, lunch time!!!" Chapter 100 (by kalynn)  
  
Nefret let the Cerebus chew at the remains of Nemisis's corpse. Just then a shrill yell that split the cave came from Nemisis's throat. "You!!!" she screamed and dived at Nefret. Mozenrath moved in front of his minion, and threw up his gauntlet. Without even a sideward glance, Nemisis flung out her hand throwing the sorcerer to the floor. "Out of my way fool!!!" she screamed and wrapped her essence around Nefret. "No!!" Chroias screamed as Nefret struggled in the air. "Let go a me you over grown charbroiled briquette!!" Nefret yelled and freed an arm. She began hitting at the form trying to knock it away. "Fool!" Nemisis grabbed Nefret's cheeks and forced her mouth open. "I want that sorcerer. And one way or another I intend to get him." She said this so low only Nefret could hear her. Chroias had been concentrating on Mozenrath and letting Nefret temporarily fend for herself. Just then she looked up and say Nemisis apparently chocking Nefret. "Get your hands of my friend!!!" Nemisis looked up, and odd glow in her eyes. Chroias didn't wait and launched a bolt of green magic at Nemisis; it contorted around the body, making it into a hard shell like state. It fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. Mozenrath caught Nefret as her body fell from the air. She let out a low moan and immediately cuddled close to the warmth of Mozenrath's body. Chroias laughed at the embarrassed look on her lovers face. "Come on. She'll wake up soon enough." Chroias opened a portal and nodded. "I'm going to go have a CHAT with daddy dearest. You get her home safe." Chroias moved close to Mozenrath. "That bitch didn't manage to???" Mozenrath smiled. "No such luck." He smiled and kissed her. Nefret suddenly shifted between the two of them and gave a short pain filled moan. "Chroias..." she gave a small whisper and fell back asleep. Mozenrath waited till Chroias had disappeared until he took Nefret home and laid her down on her bed. "I think you enjoy cheating death on a daily basis." he mused, fondly knowing she wouldn't hear him. Mozenrath settled down into his own bed later that night and soon felt something like female hand touching his rear. "I take it things went all right with your father." he took it as a yes when the hand moved to his front thigh. Smiling, Mozenrath turned around and began to bring the form closer. He kissed her and felt suddenly like her lips were far colder then Chroias. "Oh gods" he thought and tried to push away. "Ahuhuhu!!! Not so fast lover boy." Mozenrath turned around to see the lighted face of Nefret, now with glowing blue eyes instead of her human brown ones. "NEMISIS!!!" He managed to yell out before Nemisis/Nefret caught him in a kiss and bite down. Chapter 101 (by me)  
  
Mozenrath struggled to pull away, luckily the body Nemisis now possessed was a bit weaker than her original. He pushed her away and put his hand to his mouth, feeling the heavy flow of blood running down the edges of his lips. Nemisis seemed unphased as she sat on the bed smiling at his shock. "Get out of my minion, you bitch!" Mozenrath found himself slurring slightly as his lips went numb. "There's only one way that will happen lover of mine. If this body would happen to be damaged beyond all repair, I'd have to leave. Now wouldn't I?" she challenged as she slinked up the bed on all fours, not a submissive crawl, more like a big cat readying to pounce on it's pray. Never one to leave a challenge unanswered Moze gathered his power and shot a constant bolt at her. Nefret/Nemisis was thrown back against the wall and held in a fetal position. "Stop.. Your.. hurting me!" the possessed Nef cried out in a shaky voice. She sounded so convincing Mozenrath let the bolt weaken for a moment. It was enough time for her to spring forward in a flip, no doubt using a dance move stored in Nefret's memory, and landed on top of him, holding his arms down above his head. "You should have finished her off then. I might have even let you just to see your determination. You are so soft! I like that." She bent down again and planted a biting force kiss on him, opening the old wounds that had started to scab over. "You won't do it to this one will you? Looks like I made a good choice." "Says you!" He forced himself up and caught her by the throat with crushing pressure. Nefret smiled as his grip weakened and his eyes started to roll back. "Get out.. Of her." He managed to whisper before he collapsed under her, blood still trickling out of his mouth. "Nighty night lover." She stroked his hair lovingly with Nefret's tanned hand. "I think Hades will be most appreciative if he can see your demise. Well put on a good show for him, won't we." *** "I will never forgive you for this father!" Chroias growled. "Was this meant to bring me home? Back under your control? Well it failed miserably! You've lost me forever!" Her voice was full of contempt. "You should be thankful that your plan failed. If it had been a success, I can't even say what I would have done." She pivoted on her heels to leave. "Has it?" He asked mysteriously. "Has it failed? I have a funny feeling it's just begun." Hades face was unreadable. Chroias's eyes narrowed as she let the green smoke take her back home. The sight that meet her at Mozenrath's door nearly brought her heart to a stop. Nefret sat on the bed cradling Mozenrath's head stroking his hair lovingly. Moze wasn't putting up a fight. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" she roared storming to the bed. She stopped when Nefret turned around, her eyes lighting the sheets with a blue glow. "Oh my." she managed to say. "Welcome home Chroias. How was papa?" she shifted Mozenrath in her arms. "I really wish I could stay and chat hun, but I have things to do. Right lover?" She asked Mozenrath whose eyes only rolled lazily around the room. "Bye bye." Nef/Nemisis call out before vanishing. Chapter 102 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias screamed and launched herself just as the two disappeared in a burst of flames. "YOU YOU........ AAAAAAAAAAA!" Chroias screamed and launched her own fire bolt at the place were they had been. 'Gods only know what Nefret is having to put up with inside that body' Chroias hung her head mournfully. ************ Nefret was not happy. She was there. She knew she existed inside her own mind. But the fact that Nemisis was using it to pry open all her memories was not good. 'Lay off. Get out of there!' A shrill laughing sound followed as Nemisis searched through some of Nefret's childhood memories. 'Shut up brat. You have no clue how extremely interesting some of your memories are' The laugh continued. 'No doubt Chroias thought it very interesting as to how attached you were to that sorcerer.' 'That wasn't me that was you, you bitch' Lancing pain shot into Nefret's being she screamed and fell back into her thoughts. Nemisis laughed in her Nefret form. She was still carrying the limp form of Mozenrath in her arms and he was leaning back in a subconscious state. She touched his lips momentarily and continued to go to the meeting place. Hades would be waiting there for her. 'AND HE'S GOING TO BE SO HAPPY' Chapter 103 (by me)  
  
Hades tapped his foot in annoyance. Suddenly the door swung open and Nemisis entered dragging the sorcerer. "And what the hell took you so long?" "Costume change!" Nemisis struck a little pose to show off her new body. "Oh. Kinda looks familiar.. Anyone I know?" Hades watched as Nemisis lugged Mozenrath unto a marble slab. "Maybe, she was some girl that hung out with your daughter a lot." Nemisis proudly leaned against the stone bed. "Ah, another mortal out of my way! Well, lets do this!" Hades clasped his hands together and handed a knife to Nemisis. "Don't you want to do it?" "Nah, I'd rather not have his blood on my hands. It seems more ironic this way." Hades explained. With a shrug she accepted the knife and took her position over Mozenrath. 'Oh no, your not seriously doing that.' Nefret protested. 'Not in my body you aren't. No way.' 'What are you going to do about it? I'll do as I wish. See?' Nemisis, using Nefret's body, picked up Mozenrath's good hand and sliced open the palm. 'Nothing you can do about it. And there's nothing you can do about this either!' Nemisis raised the knife above his heart and mumbled a few words. 'I'm making him my undead servant.' Nemisis answered Nef's questions about the encrypted words. 'How's that for ironic?' 'Chroias is sooo going to kill you.' Nefret voiced her last opinion as the Nemisis prepared herself. "NEMISIS" Chroias stormed in. Nemisis sighed and turned around. Chroias looked around, Mozenrath was moving slightly, a good sign he was coming to, and Hades was leaning against the wall completely annoyed. "When I get my hands on you." Chroias took a step forward. Mozenrath moaned and rolled off the slab, crawling rather weakly to safety. "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't if I were you." Nemisis turned around to find Mozenrath gone. With an angry growl the demon took her only other option, holding the knife to her own, or rather Nefret's throat. "Mozenrath, come back here, NOW! Or else." Chapter 104 (by Kalynn)  
  
Mozenrath froze in his tracks and looked at Nemisis/Nefret. The fine dagger was at her throat and the wild, demonic look in her eyes held no question, she would kill Nefret. Mozenrath gave Chroias a pleading look and she nodded in affirmation. Moving very slowly, Mozenrath walked back to the thing. "All right, what exactly is it you want?" he said carefully. "To use this dagger to slice you throat instead of mine." Nemisis grabbed the sorcerer and hauled him close, again using Nefret's lips to kiss him. 'Stop doing that!' Nefret screamed out in the hollow of the mind. Her only answer was a low laugh. Mozenrath cringed against the kiss, Nismisis's presence in Nefret had turned the lips cold and rough. It was like kissing sand paper. He struggled against the hold, surprised that Nemisis could use such strength in this body. He could hear Chroias's low growling, she was not happy. Nefret started struggling against Nemisis's hold, trying to ignore the taunts. She could hear Chroias growling on the outside and knew that if she didn't do something soon, the sister like relationship between them might come to a nasty end. She kicked and squirmed and fought like hell, only to listen to the Nemisis laugh. Mozenrath took an intake of breath when Nemisis finally let go of him. She brought out the dagger and raised it high. Mozenrath didn't hesitate and brought his gantlet to her side. "Sorry Nef." he sent a shock wave through her and listened as a voice, half Nefret's and half Nemisis's, burst out. "You son of a bit..." Nemisis felt a punch collide with her face. "Sorry Nef." Chroias commented and quickly hog-tied Nemisis/Nefret. She snarled and shrieked at the two while Mozenrath tried to assess the situation. Chapter 105 (by me)  
  
"If I had my way.." Chroias shook her fist at her father but lowered it with a sigh. "But I have a bigger problem on my hands. You'll be hearing from me!" Chroias grabbed Mozenrath and Nefret/Nemisis and disappeared back to Mozenrath's lab, it was about the best place to try and get this sorted out. 'Oh, it looks like it's over now.' Nefret said in an annoying sing-song voice. 'Maybe my assassination plot didn't come out as well as I wanted, but they still have to figure out what to do with us.' Nemisis laughed sadistically. Mozenrath leaned over Nefret. "Hey Nef, do you think you can fight your way out?" Moze asked, hoping she could still hear. "Ha, fat chance sorcerer. Don't you like me better this way?" Nemisis made a kissy face. Nefret was starting to formulate a plan. 'Nemisis, can we speak?' Nefret called out. As she had hoped a tangible form of Nemisis appeared in the little hollow of her mind. 'It seems we're inseparable now. I may be stubborn, but I know when I'm beat. In exchange for my safety and comfort, I'll give you anything you want.' Nemisis smiled. 'I must admit, there are parts of your mind that are locked up so tight I can't even get to them. I want to know Mozenrath's weakness, what causes him the most pain?' Nefret blanched knowing exactly the memory she was after. A mental picture of a book flashed in the mind, Admittance. She shoved it aside before Nemisis could see. 'Ok, I'll show you.' Nefret whispered and the void vanished as a landscape appeared. Nemisis stood on the Nile riverbank, a small child stood near her, tears slipping down her face. A man appeared from off a boat and handed the girl some bags and a small puppy. Two more men appeared carrying a stretcher, and on it was the mangled form of a man covered haphazardly by a bloody sheet. "Daddy!!" the young girl screamed, burring her face in her hands. The memory filled with such a powerful emotion that it hit Nemisis like a ton of bricks. She cried out to and tears burst from her eyes, never has she felt such overwhelming sadness. She wrapped her arms around herself and shook uncontrollably. Nefret suddenly appeared near the boat and charged at the unsuspecting demon with her hands stretched out in front of her. "GET OUT OF ME!!!!" She cried as she hit the demon with bruising force. Both Mozenrath and Chroias gasped as Nefret's body suddenly jumped and Nemisis's spirit was thrown out. The demon looked around slightly surprised, tears still running down her face. Nefret coughed and rolled onto her side, her arms and legs still tied behind her. "I retract anything I might have said or done in the last 24 hours." She stated, ever the sarcastic one. "I just haven't been myself." Chapter 106 (by Kalynn)  
  
Chroias untied her friend and gave her a wide grin. "I forgive you for anything you may have done. You just better be glad I knew it was Nemisis inside your body and kissing Moze." Nefret smiled. "That reminds me." she turned her head and spat promptly onto the floor. A small insulted noise resounded from Mozenrath. Nefret smiled and tried not to blush. Nemisis sat on the floor, still bawling like a baby. She managed to shoot Mozenrath a half deadly look and Nefret a pure look of hatred before Chroias snapped her whip around the entity. "See ya later, oh and do give my regards to daddy" Chroias opened a portal and shoved Nemisis's spirit inside. Nefret touched her friend and asked. "What will happen to her spirit now?" Chroias shrugged. "Daddy will find her a new body to inhabit." Nefret nodded and stretched as Chroias walked over to Mozenrath. He still had a sulking expression on his face and barely glanced up at Chroias when she put an arm about him. He shrugged her off and retreated upstairs. Nefret and Chroias gave each other a worried look. Chroias waited till later that night and came into Mozenrath's bed. "What is it?" Mozenrath gave her an innocent look. Chroias gave him a slight smack. "Come on what is it?" Mozenrath sighed, he never could hide something from her. "I was afraid.....that I might have lost Nef...or you" Chroias smiled and kissed him. Mozenrath grinned. "Especially since you a much better kisser." Chapter 107 (by me)  
  
It was very late, probably past midnight, but Nefret was still up. She sighed and slid back into the water even thought she was starting to prune. It was just too warm to leave. Nemisis had left her feeling cold and coarse. Nef picked up the sponge and scrubbed her arm till it was red, then ran it over the mouth with a 'bleh' sound. She turned around when she heard a feminine laugh. "Mind if I come in?" Chroias stood in the doorway. Nefret shrugged and returned to scrubbing. "You ok?" "Yeah, just kinda cold and bit light headed." Nef stood and quickly wrapped a towel around herself. "It will go away soon. Actually what I meant was, how are you feeling? It must have been hard for you with Nemisis." Chroias sighed to Nefret who was behind the dressing screen. "You have no idea! But the most annoying part was when she went though my memories." Nef stuck her head out from behind the screen. "She almost found out about Destian and.. You know." Nefret didn't want to be blunt. Chroias nodded in solemn understanding. Mozenrath and Chroias sat at the breakfast table whispering lowly to each other even though there was no one to hear them. The glint in Mozenrath's eye left on doubt as to the subject of the conversation. Anubis trotted into the room and both Moze and Roias gave him an absentminded pat as he passed by on a mission to the kitchen. A few moments later Nefret made her appearance to. "Good morning Chroias." Nefret plopped down across from her. "My lord." She acknowledged Mozenrath with unusual formality, hoping her could forgive the whole possessed assassin thing. Mozenrath managed a little smile. "Morning. Felling alright today?" he inquired. "I'm feeling like myself and that's all I really care about." Nef joked. Just then a mumluk patrol passed by the door, the very last mumluk stopped just long enough to leer at both girls. Moze, who was turned away from the door didn't notice. Nefret and Chroias looked at each other questioningly but brushed it off to plan what they would do that day. 


	8. Patron8

Patron 8  
  
Previously: Mozenrath's demon girlfriend, Chroias, has come to live at the Citadel and she and Nefret become the best of friends! They have had many adventures: a fight with Aladdin, Nefret and Xerxes were banished (but Nefret was brought back) Another fight with Aladdin where Nefret was knocked into a coma for a while, Mozenrath had twins with Chroias (Tristram and Zakurum), Zakurum found his first crush, Domdi, which ended in a fight between the gang and Domdi's mother Eden. Moze and Co. come out victorious and Zak and Tris stays with Domdi (for now at least) And finally a failed assassination attempt on Mozenrath corticated by Chroias's father Hades, in which Nefret's body was possessed and used by the demon mercenary Nemisis. (yes I realize Nef is constantly cheating death. It's not my fault! Chroias puts me in these situation. I don't mind though, it adds drama and she haven't killed me off....... yet....) Now that Nemisis is gone the gang try's to relax, try being the operative word....This story will make a lot more sense to you if you have read Admittance By Kalynn Osburn (aka Chroais). It can be found in the library, but read the warnings on it first please!  
  
Disclaimer: Mozenrath, Xerxes, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet are property of Disney. Chroias belongs to Kalynnn Osburn. Nefret and Anubis are mine. Rated Pg for suggestive content.  
  
  
  
Chapter 108 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath shook in his bed and shivered. The sheets felt like they were constricting around his body. It was so cold. So very cold.  
  
'Oh god not again.' The dream screamed at him as he struggled against the hold about himself. He knew he was only dreaming and that it was only a dream. But it never stopped. It never stopped. Mozenrath shot up from his bed and immediately looked beside him for Chroias comforting frame. She was lying there. Looking comfortable and peacefully at rest.  
  
'And why shouldn't she be. She never had to live through something like that.' He almost woke her up, but found himself content to simply hold her warm female body close to his own and try to fall back asleep.  
  
Nefret was up and running before the others were. Mozenrath and Chroias seemed to be taking a rather long time today and it was bothering her. She felt comforted however when the two walked down the stairs arm in arm as usual. Mozenrath however looked somewhat tired.  
  
Black circles hung under his eyes and he seemed to be leaning on Chroias more then walking. Nefret noticed how Chroias had to help him sit gently and she gave her friend a nodding look and mouthed come to the kitchen.  
  
Chroias hurried in with her friend. Nefret grabbed her arm. "What's with him?" she asked in a fearful voice.  
  
Chroias shrugged. "I think he had another nightmare, but he won't say anything about it at all." She nodded to the doorway.  
  
"Nightmare. What do you mean.." Nefret slapped her hand over her mouth. "You mean about Distane." She hesitated as she always did on the word.  
  
Chroias nodded. He was in a cold sweat when I woke up the morning and whimpered when I touched him."  
  
Nefret bite her bottom lip. "I'll go see what he wants for breakfast." She hurried in and gently tapped Mozenrath's shoulder.  
  
Mozenrath jumped and gave a small, terrified sound. Nefret froze as he glared at her. "Don't you ever pop up behind me like that!" he yelled in her face. "EVER!"  
  
Chapter 109 (by me) Nefret turned several shades of red and raised an open hand, but stopped herself remembering what Chroias had just told her. Nefret used her raised hand to smooth her hair, trying to give the impression that that was her original intention. "Have a nice breakfast. I won't be joining you, I have a bit of work to do." Nefret spoke in a normal but strangely hurtful voice.  
  
Chroias entered to room just as Nefret left. She started to say something but Moze only shook his head and placed it in his hands. "Just that little touch shook me out of my skin." He explained. "God, what's wrong with me?" Chroias sat beside him and gave him a gentle hug.  
  
"55?" Nefret called out to the line of mumluks. One stepped forward. The mumluks had no real names, but each had a number to assure some kind of order. "55, 88 and 12. You are to patrol the west wing because I will be using 99, and 105 to help me transport these scrolls." Nefret explained as 99 stepped forward. "Where is 105? Hum. let me see." Nefret took looked at the scroll that listed all the servants.  
  
Just than Chroias walked in. "Hey girl. Is it safe to come in or are you po'ed." The demon chuckled as Nefret dismissed the mumluks.  
  
"Not really, Moze doesn't have Xerxes to beat up on, so I guess I'm the new target of frustration. Dammit, I'm missing a Mumluk! Number 105.." Nefret unrolled the scroll a bit more, but Chroias took it.  
  
"Are you sure there is a 105?"  
  
"There's a 106. Moze doesn't seem like one to skip a number just for kicks." Nefret read over her friend's shoulder, which was considerably hard considering Chroias's height.  
  
"There it is.." Chroias trailed off as she read the side note. "Oh gods of Olympus. You aren't going to believe who #105 is."  
  
Nefret caught the look in Chroias's eye. "No! It is not! Come on stop kidding me." Nefret grabbed the scroll playfully thinking Roias was playing some kind of joke. "It's not funny.." Nefret also trailed off as she read the side note.  
  
Chapter 110 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath was in his laboratory as the day progressed. It was getting later now and he wanted to relax, preferably in a nice hot bathtub with Chroias. The whole day had shaken him. It wasn't like him to blow up for no reason. Nefret really hadn't done anything wrong and he was half regretful about blowing up at her.  
  
'How's she supposed to know about HIM.' Mozenrath forced himself to reason. 'It wasn't her fault.' Mozenrath sighed and decided to go find the two girls. He wasn't going to apologize, but he was going to try and make Nefret understand that he didn't mean it.  
  
Mozenrath walked outside of his lab and began the decent down to Nefret's private room. He reached for the handle and immediately jerked his hand back. It was freezing cold. Like someone had touched it with ice.  
  
He jumped back as the mana in the room increased at a dramatic rate. The room was so thick with the smell of old age and half death Mozenrath felt himself chock on it. He lifted up his cape and tried to bang through Chroias's doors.  
  
They swung open after a few good hits and he plowed inside. "CHROIAS, NEFRET!!!!!!" He called.  
  
"No little kitten." Came a familiar voice. "I am afraid they are not to be found in this vicinity."  
  
Mozenrath turned just in time to see a huge bolt of magic broad side him and to be flung unconscious to the marble floors.  
  
Chapter 111 (by me) Chroias headed down the hall to her room quietly humming to herself. As she approached she could see Mozenrath leaning against Nefret's door with his back to her. He seemed kinda lax but she just took that as casual aloofness.  
  
"Mozey." She cued as she approached him. He didn't move. Chroias was starting to get suspicious. "Mozenrath, say something!" she hit him slightly on the arm. It was just enough to break the careful balance and the sorcerer fell to the ground. "Moze." Chroias dropped beside him. From the looks of it he had been out a while. "Don't tell me you've been hitting the bottle again." it seemed only logical that with his bad day he might have sought escape in alcohol. The demoness picked up Mozenrath, set him down in bed and then called for Nefret to bring some cool clothes.  
  
Nefret sighed as she carried the basin of water to Chroias's room. 'It's hard being the minion of such an eccentric.' She slowed as she walked into a cold spot. She felt a slight breath in her ear and a touch on her backside. "I've been working here to long." Nef mumbled fearing for her sanity. The basin suddenly seemed to weigh 50 pounds and it crashed to the floor. "Dammit!!" Nefret screamed as the cold water pooled around her feet. Chroias appeared out of her room to see what the cursing was about, but Nefret has already headed back to he kitchen for more water. With a slight 'hum' she turned back to her door.  
  
In his unconscious state Mozenrath was having the same reoccurring nightmare, but this time there seemed to be an extra voice whispering in his ear. 'I had so much fun saying hello to your minion little kitten. Now it's time to meet and greet your other female friend. We can all play nice together.' The voice laughed before fading away. Mozenrath jumped up with a start and looked around the room in a panic. "Chroias...Nefret?"  
  
"What?" Came a voice. Moze looked to the side to see Nefret staring at him.  
  
"Nef?..Chroias, where is she?" Moze swung his legs out of bed.  
  
"Hey hey! Don't sit up so fast! Roias left a few minuets ago to get some smelling salts. Why?" she asked as Mozenrath started to stand up. He swayed slightly and Nefret tried to get him to sit back down. "It was just a bad dream!"  
  
"Maybe. But I have to check." He grumbled as he walked unsteadily to the door.  
  
Chapter 112 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath left Nefret sitting alone in the room as he went to look for Roias. He found her getting more water in the kitchen. "Hey." she called out and saw the appearance he was in. "Oh gods are you okay."  
  
Mozenrath nodded and suddenly grabbed her up in his arms. Chroias stopped him mid way through the hug and didn't get out a word before he kissed her. "I had to do that." he muttered.  
  
"Hey I'm not complaining." Chroias admitted. "Mozenrath why are you doing this?"  
  
Mozenrath played dumb. "Doing what?"  
  
"The dreams! It's been almost a year now since any of those dreams have surfaced and now suddenly they're popping back up! Mozenrath what's going on?" Chroias clutched him as he tried to move away.  
  
He just gave her an I-don't-know-look. "Maybe it's nothing. Just a freak accident." he said and gave a hopeful sigh. He suddenly rubbed his gauntleted arm as though he was cold. "I don't want that part of my life back Chroias." he gave her a meaningful and half afraid look. "I never want that part of my life back."  
  
Chroias let him pull her close and she returned his hugs. "Mozenrath." she said in a soft whisper. "What are we going to do with you?"  
  
He gave a small laugh and put his chin on her head. "We better go up and see Nefret. She wasn't to happy about letting me out of bed."  
  
Chapter 113 (by me) Chroias clung to Mozenrath's arm as they walked back upstairs. A strange noise drifted down the hallway. It was high pitched and brisk. Laughter, albeit strange laughter. "I thought you said Nef was unhappy." Chroias looked to Mozenrath.  
  
"That's the impression I got. Guess I was wrong. God, she sounds like a hyena!!!!" Moze placed his fingers to his temples and scrunched his brow. The shrill noise only got louder as they approached Chroias's room, but stopped the moment the door pull was touched. Nef sat on the bed playing a game of fetch with Anubis. The dog bounded to Chroias and dropped the soggy ball in her hand. The demon made a face, but obliged the hound by throwing the toy. "What's so funny?" Moze inquired still rubbing his temples. "Why were you laughing?"  
  
"I wasn't" Nef cocked her brow as if Moze has lost his mind.  
  
"We heard it." Chroias confirmed Mozenrath's story  
  
"I didn't hear a thing." Nef shrugged.  
  
"Funny Nef, but I'm not in the mood for games." Mozenrath sighed. Nefret only gave an annoyed hum as she followed everyone down to dinner.  
  
"You find out what's up with him yet?" Nefret whispered to Chroias.  
  
"Yes and No. He's just going though a bad time. Try to be good to him, for me?" Chroias pleaded  
  
"When have I ever been anything but?" Nefret said in an offended tone. Chroias gave her a look. "Ok, I'll be nice. If he does the same!" She sighed.  
  
"Good girl." Roias gave her a little pat on the head. Nefret laughed and gave her a slightly harder one, this turned into an all out play fight. Moze only rolled his eyes and smiled slightly.  
  
Mozenrath and Chroias tossed in turned in their bed sharing the same dream. Lost, alone, cold, wet, in total darkness, calling for someone, anyone. But no one was there. No one but the wild dogs gathering, waiting for their death. They charged, leapt...... Then the scene shattered into a million pieces and they fell to their deaths on the broken glass below. Lying there, half dead, bleeding, they could see a stirring in the darkness. A form moving closer. A face?  
  
Mozenrath and Chroias sat up in bed at the same moment, both looked to each other as if to say 'you to?' Then they both noticed the large red marks on their arms. In the welts were small white marks, as if fingernails had grazed the skin a bit to hard. But Mozenrath and Chroias were too pale to make them out. "We had the same dream?" a thought came to Chroias. "What about Nefret?"  
  
Moze and Chroias quickly but quietly entered the girl's bedroom. Nefret seemed to be in a content sleep, and no sign of night terrors marked her face. Her arm, however, was another matter. Mozenrath and Chroias gasped as they realized what was on their own arms. On Nefret's tanned skin the initials LK were clearly visible in tiny white scratches.  
  
"Little kitten." Moze whispered.  
  
Chapter 114 (by Kalynn) A cold desolate wind blew over the dark sands around the Citadel. Lightning flashed as a storm began to force it's was into the lands. Three figures were unafraid of the storm however, as they had bigger problems on their minds.  
  
Nefret stood and looked at the marks on her arm. She knew what they meant, what they meant for Mozenrath, but more importantly...how was she supposed to react to this. "So ummmm.." Nefret managed to catch Chroias's eye. The demoness gave her a no go look and Nefret feigned stupidity. "What does this LK mean?" she asked looking at Mozenrath.  
  
The sorcerer gave her a glare and mumbled something incoherent. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky as he paced back and fourth. The pounding sound of the rain echoed in the marble halls. Mozenrath shivered, but not out of coldness.  
  
Chroias walked closer to him. "Mozenrath, maybe we should leave. Get out of the Citadel for a few days and...."  
  
Mozenrath's hand landed across her face. Nefret stood in shock, it was the very first time she had ever seen Mozenrath hit Chroias. The look of shock was clear on Chroias's face as well. Mozenrath even had a look of surprise that he had done that.  
  
"Roi....." Mozenrath fumbled for an explanation. "Roi.." Chroias simply nodded her head and touched his hand. Mozenrath shook his head. "Allah what's the matter with me?_ He began to walk away from the group.  
  
"Chroias," Nefret tapped Chroias on the shoulder. "He called you Roi." She asked.  
  
"It's something he used to call me." Chroias confirmed. "Whenever the nightmares would get really bad and he couldn't concentrate, he would start calling me Roi." She hugged her friend close. "Nefret I think he's terrified. I think he can't even see straight."  
  
Nefret looked at Mozenrath sitting on the throne. "Do you think I let out to much. About the...." she pointed to her arm where the LK stood out in bold printed letters.  
  
Chroias shook her head. "No it's on his arm to." She lifted her sleeve. "And mine."  
  
Nefret shook her head. "It can't be can it. You know..... HE can't be back can he?"  
  
Chroias only shrugged and put her hand on her friend. "I don't know Nef...I just don't know."  
  
A high cruel laugh rang in the upper halls of the Citadel. Soulless black eyes stared out of the darkness at the three below him. "Soon little kitten. Soon you will be mine again." A bolt of lightning flashed and illuminated a face only to briefly and then it was gone.  
  
Chapter 115 (by me) Mozenrath sat slumped recklessly in his throne. He was deep in thought, and to look at him one might think he was on another planet. His eyes stared endlessly into the darkness without the benefit of blinking, even when the room flashed in unholy white lightning. He had been that way for some time, and hadn't even noticed when Nefret and Chroias left.  
  
"I'm telling you Nef this stuff isn't going to cut it." Chroias said to Nefret as they looked around the armory. "Knives, bows, swords, maces, battle axes, these are for flesh and blood. We should be prepared, just in case, but we don't even know what we could be dealing with!"  
  
Eyes watched the girls as they sorted though the armory. He frowned. A demon and a girl with a quick temper and a fondness for sharp, pointy things like crossbows and daggers wasn't what exactly what he wanted in his way. 'It will be sufficiently hard to dominate Mozenrath now that he is a powerful sorcerer, but with a untied force of him, the demon, and the shrew.. !!!! Well maybe they won't be so united.' He smiled evilly and disappeared again.  
  
"I don't know, maybe you should just use the ring Moze gave ya." Chroias pointed to the shiny black onyx ring encircling her pinky.  
  
"No, I hardly every use the ring. Makes me feel weak after I draw on it." Nefret explained picking up and inspecting an old crossbow. Suddenly it fired and the arrow grazed Chroias's thigh. "OH HATHOR! I'm so sorry!!!" Nef hurried to her friend. "It's not bad, just a little cut. I don't understand, it wasn't even set to fire!" Nef muttered as she examined the cut.  
  
Without warning Chroias felt something pull her arm back, and before she could think she punched Nefret hard in the stomach. 'Did I just do that?' Chroias looking at her fist. Nef pulled herself from the ground completely stunned, then anger showed in her eyes and she stomped out of the room clutching her stomach.  
  
"But I didn't mean to! I really, really didn't." The demon ran after Nefret as she headed to her private chambers. "Nef." She began, but the door slammed in her face with a deafening bang. "Fine!" Chroias huffed away.  
  
Nefret jumped as the door slammed shut on it's own after she entered the room. She could hear Chroias yell and storm off. "But I didn't shut it." Nef started to wonder, but the pain radiating from her abdomen stopped any logical thought process.  
  
The shadowy figure laughed slightly to himself watching the fight. "So easy to manipulate! Your forces are disbanding, dear little kitten." He taunted the now asleep Mozenrath.  
  
Chapter 116 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath jerked in his sleep and shot awake. Something had touched his cheek and left a spider thin trail of blood along the side. He looked about the room, suddenly very aware of being alone. "Roi...Nef!" he called out in a half horse voice. Chroias looked down at the slash on her thigh. It was deep, but not so much that her demon abilities weren't starting to heal it already. The dark blood dripped to the floor and she continued walking. A figure closed in behind her and scooped up some of the blood in a vile. A flash of lightning caused the vile to glint and Chroias spun around to see what it was. Chroias let her demon senses kick in. Her eyes shone like two red beacons in the dark halls. But she couldn't see anything. Chroias suddenly found herself very much wanting Nefret's company.  
  
Nefret put a cloth to her stomach and winced. That demon had a deadly right hook. 'Why did she punch me' Nefret wondered. 'It wasn't like I was trying to hit her....was I?' Nefret felt a small wet nose on her hand and gently patted Anubis's head. "Oh Anubis what's going on?" she hugged the pharaoh hound and let a few tears fall. The hound whined sympathetically and suddenly his ears stood on end and he barked sharply at the door.  
  
Chroias walked in followed by Mozenrath only a few seconds later. He held a cloth to the still bleeding wound and it was turning the white cloth red. "It still hasn't stopped bleeding." he said and looked slightly worried. Chroias sat him down on a chair and the looked at Nefret.  
  
"Nef I'm sorry...I just......oh Gods and Hells this whole thing has got me so messed up...." Nefret nodded and hugged her friend as Mozenrath seemed to be looking out the window. "It's Moze.....I know how he feels about this thing....Gods Nefret you don't know what it was like for him. You don't know how much he dreams about IT happening all over again." Chroias looked at her friend with her red eyes. "I used a calming spell on him once. It's an art of healing. But when I did that I 'found' ...no not just found...'felt' what had happened to him." Chroias shook in her friend's arms. "Oh Gods Nefret you have no idea what it's like."  
  
"Your right." Mozenrath said. "She doesn't" He walked over to the two and sat down. "And she shouldn't." he gave Chroias a cold look. Nefret and Chroias blanched for a moment. Neither had realized that Mozenrath had been listening.  
  
Chapter 117 (by me) "Moze.." Nefret started trying to judge just how angry he was.  
  
"How long have you known?" He suddenly cut her off and hushed Chroias as she began to say something in both their defense.  
  
"Awhile now. A little bit after Chroias and I became friends." Nefret spoke in an almost guilty tone.  
  
"And what? You feel sorry for me? Pity the haunted man and his past???!!!!" Mozenrath growled out and stood up, towering above Nefret.  
  
Nefret, to her benefit, stayed relatively calm. Anubis growled lowly. Even though Mozenrath was his provider, he had little qualm about attaching the hand that feed him to protect his mistress. "Never in my life, Mozenrath, have I felt a drop of real pity for you. And never in my life am I planning to. I only pity your lack of trust! What, I'm good enough to take into your home, to serve you, to be your friend, to be the godmother of your children, but not to trust with your pain????"  
  
"It has nothing to do with trust! I never told you because there was absolutely no reason you should know. What could you have done if I had told you? Only pity me. Servants should stay out of the affairs of their master! And above all else that's what you are Nefret, a servant. That isn't all you are, but at heart that is your position. You forget that sometimes." Moze relaxed back into his chair. Nefret, for once couldn't think of a comeback. She only lowered her eyes and exhaled. Mozenrath looked back to her, she looked so worn out, they all did. "It's getting late." Moze took Chroias's hand as he stood. "I'll see you in the morning Nef."  
  
Nefret's peaceful sleeping face scrunched a bit as a figure entered her room, but she didn't wake. It loomed over her bed and with his smile glinting in the darkness the figure placed a hand on her throat. "I need to borrow your voice for a while little plum."  
  
Chroias laid listening to the sound of thunder and the beat of the rain on the roof above. She stared at the ceiling as a wicked flash of lighting burst in her room. Out of the darkness she heard a voice, feminine and pretty. "Roias, Roias, I need you."  
  
"Nefret?" Chroias questioned slipping out of bed and to the door. He hallway looked empty. "Nef?::"  
  
"Follow me." The voice urged. "Come on Roias!!" It laughed playfully and the demon heard the owner's feet running down the hall. She obediently followed it "I'm in here!" Nefret's voice urged. Chroias entered the room and the door promptly slammed behind her. The voice changed from feminine to masculine. "And you'll never leave."  
  
Chapter 118 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath felt the empty spot beside him on the bed. Chroias had chewed into him soon after Nefret had gone to her room. He'd never seen her eyes so red or her teeth so large. 'It's your own fault you twit' the nagging voice in him said. "Nef hadn't said a word up ill now...she'd respected your peace and you had to be a numbskull and get angry for no damn reason'  
  
Mozenrath snorted at himself. 'As though it was any of her business as to what he did to me.' Mozenrath felt a sharp tugging in his mind. A wrenching twisting feeling in his stomach. It couldn't be...guilt. 'No no Just nerves' he forced himself to think. 'Of all the damn times for Chroias to be mad at me.' he said and gently touched the cold spot beside him.  
  
********  
  
Chroias hissed and swung at the tall man in front of her. He laughed and her tail passed through him as it would a shadow. "DISTANE!" Chroias screeched at the top of her lungs. "You slimy psychotic old bastard!!! Get back and fight."  
  
The hyena like laughter ran through her veins and only fueled her anger further. She heard a soft moan in the corner. Nefret rose her head and looked at Chroias. A large cut seemed to be right over her left eye. Chroias gasped and saw to it. "It'll heal but not without a small scar."  
  
Nefret nodded and gave a short growl. "Oh I swear I'm gonna beat that son of a bitch bloody!" she stood up and turned up her plum head for a sign of Distane. He was nowhere in sight. A small light clink clink clink of meatle reached the girls ears. Both screamed as a cascade of iron chains flung after them like snakes.  
  
Chroias battered at the door and snarled when it wouldn't open. "Nef it's closed and anti-magiced." she turned in time to see her friend being dragged off by the hissing chains. With a deadly snarl Chroias flung herself at her friend only to have an impossibly cold arm pull her around and smell of old yellow toothed breath puff in her face.  
  
"Nono!" Distane said and held her chin in an appraising manner. "I have a little something for you to do child." He let out another high laugh. "My little kitten isn't so little anymore. And I need bait."  
  
Chapter 119 (by me) Nefret struggled as the chains pulled her out of the room and down the hallways. She gave an "ouf" as she was lifted and thrown against a door. The snake like chains lingered for a moment then began to retreat. "ow." Nefret moaned as the door was pulled open. From the doorway Mozenrath saw the fleeting image of the chains disappearing in the shadows. He looked down to see Nefret sitting up and rubbing her sore head.  
  
Chroias snarled and snapped at Distane's hand. He laughed and pulled it away. "What have you done with Nef?!" She hissed.  
  
"Why? What do you think I should do with her?" He gave a sick grin. Chroias launched herself at him but she only grasped at air. "Oh relax child. Nefret is fine. Can't have bait without a messenger you know." He suddenly grabbed her. "Time to go."  
  
"Go where!?" Chroias managed to get out.  
  
"Someplace of significance." Came the answer, whispered closely to her ear.  
  
Mozenrath helped Nefret to her feet and pulled her head around to look at him. Blood had dried around her left eye, but there wasn't a cut, only a tiny pink scar running along her eyebrow. "Chroias" he whispered.  
  
"She...chains.. the old guy." Nef hit her head odiously frustrated with her inability to make sense. Mozenrath pulled her into the room and sat her on the bed, giving her time to take a breath. "He's got her. He lured her to him with my voice, now he has her." Nefret explained.  
  
"He?" Mozenrath hoped against hope Nefret wasn't talking about whom he thought she was talking about.  
  
"Distane." Nefret put a hand to the scare then suddenly felt something itchy on her ankle. She reached down and pulled out a scrap of paper stuck in her anklet. Mozenrath took it from her. "What does it say?" she asked as his face when white.  
  
Chapter 120 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath looked at the note and shivered. "It's the old lab." he murmured. He shook visibly. His face was a pale white color and his pupils seemed to have shrunk.  
  
Nefret stared quizzically up at her lord's face. "What do you mean the old lab......why there?"  
  
Mozenrath wasn't even thinking as he answered. "It's.....it's the first....palace he......." Mozenrath closed his eyes and shivered suddenly aware of who he was talking to. "How is it any of your business." But he didn't have the heart to yell it at her.  
  
Nefret lowered her eyes a moment. "Moze....I can't  
  
..know how you feel." she touched his arm gingerly. "But.....I wish I did."  
  
"No you don't....." Mozenrath began but Nefret interrupted.  
  
"I do...If only so that you would trust me more. Chroias trusted me with this information only because she knew I would never let it matter." Nefret touched a bone that was under his gantlet. "Have I ever let this matter?"  
  
Mozenrath nodded and managed a small no. "I'm......." he tried to push the word sorry from his mouth but didn't manage it, only gave Nefret a pleading look.  
  
She nodded and jerked a finger to the doorways. "Now what do you say we hunt that bastared down with a crossbow?"  
  
Mozenrath gave one of his maniacal grins. "If I know Chroias she's already trying to strip his hide."  
  
********  
  
Unfortunately Chroias wasn't in a position to do much of anything. She dangled from the ceiling held by anti-magic chains and covered only by an old haggard robe. Distane hadn't touched her...he only wanted it to look as though he had. "Enrage the little kitten more." he smiled and held Chroias's chin in a controlling fashion. .  
  
Chroias made a snorting sound a hacked up a lugie in Distane's face.  
  
The old sorcerer looked shocked for only a second and then struck her across the face with a full fist blow. Chroias's head went limp and she hung from the rafters as though dead.  
  
Chapter 121 (by me) Moze watched as Nefret loaded an iron tipped arrow into her bow. "These will work better." He handed her a handful of wooden arrows. Nefret looked at him skeptically. "Regular arrows will only go through him, these wont. They won't kill him, but. they could distract him." Mozenrath sighed. "Nef, this will be the most difficult situation we will ever face. It might not... go our way. Are you sure.." He began but Nefret gave an exasperate sigh and put her hands on her hips. "Right, lets go!" Mozenrath grinned.  
  
Distane circled around Chroias like a vulture, arranging her to give the maxim impact on Mozenrath. His ears perked visibly as he heard a noise. "Looks like the kitten is ready to play." He whispered to the still unconscious Chroias and disappeared into the shadows.  
  
The door opened painstakingly slow as Mozenrath peeked in. He entered and noticed Chroias handing from the rafters. With a growl that rang impossibly deep in this throat Mozenrath attempted to zap the chains. The bolt was absorbed and by the metal and retuned to him. He grimiest at the shock.  
  
"My little kitten has gotten foolish over the years. You should have expected anti-magic defenses. I thought I taught you better!" the form of Distane slipped from the shadows. "No matter, we will have plenty of time to reteach you." Moze could only stare frozen in fear and memories as Distane got closer. The clanking sound of Chroias shifting in her bonds brought him back to reality. "NOW!!!" Mozenrath chocked out. A false wall in the far corner suddenly burst open and an arrow was shot from the darkness. It hit Distane's arm. He looked at it, then to Nefret standing in the newly reviled doorway.  
  
"Ow, that wasn't nice." He smiled and plucked off the arrow like a splinter. "Really little kitten, you should teach your minion manners!"  
  
"Again!" Mozenrath yelled as Nef loaded another arrow. She aimed for his heart and shot. With a flick of his wrist the speeding arrow stopped in midair just inches from his chest.  
  
Distane looked to Mozenrath. "Never mind. Let me do it for you." The arrow turned around and speed back to Nefret. Luckily she jumped out of the way. Seeing that the arrow has safely passed both Moze and Nef looked back to where Distane had been, but he was gone. Moze narrowed his eyes, but turned his attention back to Chroias. He motioned for Nefret to keep watch as he rose into the rafters with a saw they had found on the table.  
  
Mozenrath had just about cut through a link in the chain when her heard Nefret gasp. "Stupid dog, didn't you lean the first time?" Destane's voice taunted. Mozenrath looked down to see Nefret in a chock hold. Distane throw her across the room. She hit a tall set of draws tipping it over. The top of it hit the rafters shaking Mozenrath from his perch just as the broke the chain link. Chroias dropped a bit, but the severed link still held the two pieces of chain together. Mozenrath looked around from the floor. Distane was gone again.  
  
"Damn cowered!" He hissed as he got to his feet and sat by Nefret. "Nef, I want you to get out of here." He said as he removed her anklet.  
  
"Hell no, I'm not leaving you and Roias!" Nefret protested.  
  
Mozenrath hushed her and whispered in her ear. "You know were I want you to go. But don't let HIM know that you're coming back at all, especially with company." He gave her a meaningful look. Nefret nodded in understanding but frowned. "I'll be ok, just hurry. I hate to involve them, but.." He looked back to Chroias. Nefret touched is gauntleted hand. "Go on Nef." Mozenrath set the anklet aside rather sadly. Nef squeezed his hand before running out the door.  
  
A scream stuck in the Egyptian woman's throat as she pulled open the stable door. All the horses, camels, even the donkeys had been slaughtered. Hesitating a bit as she looked back to the Citadel Nefret and Anubis took off running through the black desert in the pouring rain.  
  
Chapter 122 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath turned just in time to see Distane grab him about the neck. "Hello little kitten." Distane said with a breath rotten grin. "My how you've grown....I'm so proud of you."  
  
Mozenrath reached up with his gauntleted hand and drove a magical bolt through him, Distane only laughed. "I really didn't do much of a job teaching you little kitten." he grabbed Mozenrath's hand and twisted it making the sorcerer call out in pain. "Maybe we should review a few lessons." he whispered into Mozenrath's ear.  
  
********  
  
Chroias's eyes fluttered open and she saw Distane with his arm around an unconscious Mozenrath. The sorcerer was slumped against a pillar where Distane placed a metal bond about his arms and one to keep his leg together. As Distane back away, Chroias could see her lover was posed in an odd rendition of the Death of Christ pose. Distane had his lips dangerously close to Mozenrath.  
  
"You bloody bastared!!!" Chroias screeched from her position on the ceiling. "Get YOU HALF ASSED HANDS OFF MY BOYFRIEND!!!!!!!"  
  
Distane raised his head to the heysterical demon. "Have no fear hell hound. I'm only letting Mozenrath recall some bittersweet memories from way back when." Distane's mouth twisted into a cruel smile and he lowered Chroias to the ground. "How sad...." he traced the line of her chin. "So close and yet so far." Distane left the demon hanging just beyond her reach. He walked out the door...his high hyena laughter ringing in her ears as Mozenrath winced while the dream took hold.  
  
Chroias tried to rouse him. "Mozenrath! WAKE UP IT'S JUST A DREAM!!"  
  
Somewhere in the black nothingness of his subconscious, Mozenrath heard her voice. But he was without ability to answer. The cold...unbearably cold hand gripped him from all sides. And he could feel the pain pushing through his body......  
  
Chapter 123 (by me) Mozenrath flinched, shock, and writhed as the dream unlocked painful memories and played them all over again in the theater of his mind. Chroias, besides calling out to him, was helpless to stop the pain. And that was hurting her more than any physical pain. Distane was clearly trying to manipulate both of them at the same time.  
  
Distane entered and casually walked around the room. "When I get free I swear I will do things to you that are so ungodly not even a sick bastered like you would be capable of thinking them up!!!" Chroias snarled in an almost animalistic fashion. Her eyes flashed then she noticed the absence in the room. "Where is Nefret?" she let her surprise and concern show, and Distane knew exactly how to manipulate the demon next.  
  
"Who?" He smiled as she shrieked in anger and frustration. "Oh, Neffie. I remember her. Fond, fond memories." He looked away.  
  
Chroias lowered her head as her eyes flashed. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Well, that all that she is, a memory." He looked back to her as if was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"What exactly are you talking about?" Chroias growled hoping this was another one of his head games. "No, you wouldn't kill her." The demon said with confidence she didn't honestly feel.  
  
"Oh, wouldn't I?" Distane asked as he wiped his hands on his robe in an ominous manner. He smiled slightly as he examined the unconscious Mozenrath, enraging Chroias all the more. "No I didn't kill her." He whispered. Chroias strained her ears to hear. Distane walked uncomfortably close to her, talking all the way. "Last I saw the girl she was running off into the desert. Abandoning you all to save her skin. Little kitten should have stuck with undead servants. Mumlucks are so much more loyal." Distane was centimeters for Chroias's face now, his old breath forced into the nose. "I should know, I was one for years!" He stood back as Chroias yelled and writhed.  
  
"I don't believe you! She didn't leave!!!" The demon used the chain suspension to swing back and forth, finally causing the broken chain link to give way. Chroias growled evilly as she found herself free to move again.  
  
Anubis whined as he followed behind Nefret. Even his lean, strong legs where beyond exhaustion. Nefret stopped and allowed for her hound to lie down. With a grunt she picked him up and continued on her way through the gates if Agrabah. Her goal shimmered in the distance, the palace.  
  
Chapter 124 (by Kalynn) Nefret collapsed at the palace gates. She felt and looked filthy, her cloths were in tatters and her skin felt wet and grit covered. "Just a little further." she mumbled and tried to stand only to have Anubis's weight push her down again.  
  
*******  
  
Mozenrath felt a hand touch him on the cheek. It was warm...so much warmer then the dreams hands. "Oh god it hurt hurts oh damn it stop." He screamed out in his head as the pain only increased. He was screaming verbally now...he could hear himself. And a voice. Someone was talking to him. Soft comforting words. Warm, tear filled words.  
  
"Moze...Mozenrath it's a dream." Chroias whispered in his ear. Distane was just out side and she didn't know how much time she had before he came back in and caught her being lose. "Mozenrath please wake up snap out of it." she shook his body but the chains held tight. "Moze...." her voice failed her as he screamed again.  
  
"Roi......" he gurgled and then his head fell limp again.  
  
"Mozenrath..." Chroias searched her memories.. If these memories were what were keeping him in pain, maybe a different memory could quell it. "Moze...remember the first night you and I spent together.... you were so careful and attentive." she pressed her lips to his cheek. "We made love all night. I spent the night wrapped in your arms and you purred. You remember that don't you Mozenrath... I looked up at you just after we made love and told you that you were purrrrring." she put a hand to him and felt tears being squeezed out of her eyes, soft red drops fell to the floor. "Please Mozenrath....wake up please."  
  
Mozenrath felt the fog of his dream lifting over him. The pain became a simple dull throbbing in his stomach. "Roi....Roi." he murmured and opened an eye slowly. "Oh gods Roi." he said in a voice so week he felt like throwing up just from talking.  
  
"Shhhhhhhhh." Chroias said and began to work with the chains. "It'll be fine.....just fine."  
  
"No I'm afraid it won't be." Distane fired a bolt at Chroias and the demoness screeched in pain. "Clever clever girl."  
  
"Distane..." Mozenrath tried to yell but could only whisper in response. "Distane...keep away from her." Whisper or not the anger in his voice was evident.  
  
"Why little kitten...afraid my tastes may have changed over the last few years._ Distane held Chroias's chin and rubbed his lips close to hers. "I must admit even I find her very very sweet."  
  
Mozenrath did manage a violent yell this time. "YOU BASTERED....I SWEAR TO HIGH HELL IF YOU DON'T KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!!!!!!!!!!!_  
  
"You'll what!?" Distane yelled throwing a fainted Chroias to the ground. "You'll what little kitten...." he grabbed Mozenrath by the throat and began to squeeze. "Well, you want to back talk me you little bastared. Do I have to remind you of the whip I used on you oh so long ago?" Distane gripped the neck harder. "You want another taste of my hatred boy...."  
  
Mozenrath spat in Distane's face and bite his lip when Distane's crashing fist came down on him. "Apparently you need to be taught another lesson brat.... A lesson I obviously didn't teach well enough on the first go round."  
  
Mozenrath looked desperately at Chroias who still lay limp on the floor. Distane laughed and wound her again to the ceiling. "Oh nonono little kitten..." he clutched Mozenrath's chin and let his breath reek on Mozenrath's face. "This is between you and me."  
  
Chapter 125 (by me) Sound burst through the room. Snap, crack, and the unmistakable sound of leather whispering through the air. Mozenrath tried his best to hold his tongue and keep from crying out.  
  
Domdi burst into laugher at something Zak had said, Tris however just scowled. Zak chuckled then caught the sight of some palace servants huddled in the corner whispering to each other. Curious Zak perked his ears to eavesdrop, luckily his hearing was enhanced by his mothers side if the family.  
  
"Oh yeah! Just a filthy filthy vagabond. Soaked to the bone and collapsed. Had some kind of animal with her, equally filthy." One maid reported.  
  
"Yes, but Aladdin seemed to know her. Took her in at least." The other shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, ordered her bathed. Dunked her in the tub and she wake up screaming like a banshee! I don't know what was harder to get off, the dirt or the 10 pounds of kohl around her eyes!" The first maid joked.  
  
Zak's eyes widened and he looked to his sister. She had been listening to, and had gotten the exact same idea. "Auntie!" They both said in unison.  
  
"I don't want to eat!" Nefret cried frustrated as Aladdin and Jasmine refused to let her sit up. Aladdin pleaded with her, sighting she had collapsed of exhaustion, and needed to recharge. Nefret defiantly picked up the plate and set it in front of a hungry Anubis. "I appreciate it, but I don't have time for pleasantries. For the millionth time, I need the twins!"  
  
"I've never been one to leave my Aunt in need." Zak said brightly as he entered the room with Tris. Nefret smiled and ran to them, pulling them both into a hug. "Is something wrong, I heard you were looking less than lovely a while ago." Zak inquired as Nefret released them.  
  
"Did you have a fight with father?" Tris asked concerned. Nefret shook her head, but gave a bemused grin at the thought.  
  
"Than what in all of Hades and Olympus is the matter?" Zak sat Nefret down, seeing she was still quite tired. Nefret looked at him for a moment, than at Tris, right into they're eyes. Suddenly she didn't know what to say. Did they know about their fathers past? No, if Mozenrath hadn't trusted her with it, there was little chance he'd put such a heavy burden on his children. Well did they at least then know how Mozenrath had come to throne? That long before he sat on the throne, he had stood by it serving Distane? "Aunt Nef?"  
  
Chapter 126 (by kalynn) Mozenrath hit the cold marble and felt a smooth touch of silk against him. "Oh Allah...Roias please let that be you." he mumbled out barely coherent. Distane had taken his gauntlet and already he was beginning to feel the affects of being separated from it.  
  
"It's ok Moze...it's ok...it's me." Chroias held him close and ripped off part of her top to start wiping the blood off her lovers back. She heard a slight whimper and realized Mozenrath was barely holding in a scream. "It's ok...It's okay." Chroias did her best to be gentle.  
  
Mozenrath stopped her and brought his arms around the demoness. "Chroias I'm sorry." he pulled her down to him. "Allah I'm sorry, I should have taken your advice. We could have gotten out of here...we could be a million miles away by now....."  
  
Chroias stopped him and placed a finger over his split lips. "No....you fought hard to keep this palace yours."  
  
"And now it's his again." Mozenrath felt a pain welling inside him. The back of his eyes stung and he held back tears. "Rois...I'm.....I swear to Allah Roi....." he brought his lips close to Chroias's ear. "I love you Chroias." he whispered and fainted.  
  
*********  
  
Tris suddenly screamed in the halls. Zak fell to the floor gripping his head. Just as suddenly the two seemed to snap out of it and regain their senses. Zak walked over to Domdi. "Domi....I have to go somewhere. Me and sis."  
  
Tris grabbed her brother and pulled him away. "Don't bother with last goodbyes bro, we'll be back soon enough." she growled and Nefret could swear she saw a small glow in the children's eye.  
  
Zak walked over to Nefret and quickly explained that he and Tris could feel their father and mother in pain or extreme emotional anguish. "I swear when I find the son of a bitch causing this...." Zak made a long growl that sounded exactly like his mothers.  
  
Tris snatched Neff's hand. "You will come and help us right??" she asked uncertainly.  
  
Nefret saw a dagger on the table. "How could I do any less."  
  
Chapter 127 (by me) Chroias sat with Mozenrath on her lap. Bending over she gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, he smiled but kept his eyes shut. Chroias continued to give him a series of soft kisses just above his left brow. Suddenly she shot upright. Moze looked up at her questioningly.  
  
"I thought I felt. the twins. Here." Chroias breathed having the strangest maternal instinct.  
  
"It's about time Nef got back with 'em!" Moze sighed gladly.  
  
****  
  
Tris looked around, the Citadel had never been a place of sunshine and cheer, but she had never seen it so dark, or felt it so cold. Tris suddenly shivered and grabbed onto both Zak and Nef stopping them. "Something's not right. Cold, dead." Tris made a face as the feeling increased, as did Zak.  
  
"Welcome." A cold wind whispered passed all of the. "Come back for more Sour Plum? Did you like it that much?" Distane slipped out of the shadows and grinned viscously. "Oh and brought friends have we? I like the demon boy. Quite fetching, reminds me of his father." Distane ran his tongue over a canine tooth in a less then subtle manner. Zak growled, but stopped when he saw what was in the old mans belt, his father's gauntlet.  
  
Zak rolled his eyes to the girls, and they both gave him a bit of a wink. Zak suddenly spun around and rushed Distane. It took the evil psychopath a bit by surprise, but he recovered quickly slapping Zak away. The demon hit the floor with a growl and a hiss. Tris than gave it a try but found herself in the same position as her brother. The fact that the strong half demon children had failed didn't give a girl like Nefret much of a chance, but that sure didn't stop her. She landed on top of Tris a moment later. Suddenly seeing the glow in the girl's eyes it occurred to her that Tris was no ordinary child. With a sudden grin Nef handed Tris the dagger and whispered to her. Tris smiled.  
  
Zak had come to blows with Distane, though not of the physical kind. Still he wasn't enough of a distraction. Nefret picked up a pot and hurled it at Distane, than a vase, followed by each of her sandals. Distane growled and redirecting the projectiles back at the girl, where she would pick them up and throw them yet again.  
  
Preoccupied by both Zak's blows, and Nefret's constant bombing Distane had completely forgotten about Tris. Tris narrowed her eyes in concentration as she guided the dagger through the air using her telekinesis. It approached just under Distane range of vision, and with a little jerk of Tris's head, it cut the belt and the gauntlet fell to the ground. It as promptly snatched up Anubis. With a shriek Distane realized what had happened, but Anubis has already deposited the glove in Tris's hand.  
  
"Run. Get to them!!" Zak yelled, and his sister quickly obliged, taking off down the hall. Distane growled allowing his concentration to laps and one of Nefret's pots hit him upside the head. With and unearthly howl he descended on both boy and godmother.  
  
Chapter 128 (by Kalynn) Nefret dodged but Zak wasn't quick enough. "AUNTI NEF RUN I'LL CATCH UP." he yelled and Nefret didn't have time top turn and Zak before a metal door slammed down trapping both Nef and Tris to one side of the Citadel halls.  
  
Zak felt Distane grab his arm and twist it behind him. "So...you must be one of Mozenrath's little brats...and that other one your sister." Distane brought his lips close to Zak's ear. "What extraordinary fun. More to toy with Mozenrath's mind."  
  
********  
  
Mozenrath and Chroias heard the hyena laughter ring through the dungeon halls. Chroias buried her head in Mozenrath's chest and slowly began to sob. Mozenrath was awestruck. Once.....only once before had he seen Chroias in such a state of weakness. She was demon born, a proud strong woman who had a pride to rival his. She was commanding, intelligent and completely in control no matter what the situation.  
  
And she was sobbing.  
  
The tiny blood tears ran down his chest and clung to him. Mozenrath put his arms around her and held her close. There wasn't much else he could do for her now. "Roi it's ok.....it's ok. Nefret and the kids are here now."  
  
"You don't understand....." Chroias gasped out and lifted her face enough for Mozenrath to see the blood twinkle in a sudden burst of lightning. "Distane has Zak."  
  
Mozenrath felt slow, boiling anger rise in him. "He what?" he said in a low voice.  
  
"I have you little boy." Distane said from the doors. "Don't believe me...." he held up Zak just enough for Chroias and Mozenrath to see his eyes. Mozenrath didn't even see Chroias leap from his arms and use her claws to begin shredding the doors, completely ignoring the anti-magic barriers that were sparking through her body.  
  
"YOU BASTERED YOU DANMDEBLE BASTERED!!!!!! IF YOU HARM ONE HAIR ON HIS HEAD I SWEAR BY THE DEMONS IN HELL I'LL........" Chroias screamed insults to him as Mozenrath pulled her back. "We won't help Zak by pissing Distane off any more."  
  
"A wise decision little kitten." Distane brought his face very close to Zak's hair and smelled it as one would a rose. "He's so very handsome...reminds me of you Mozenrath."  
  
Mozenrath forced Chroias to sit on a dingy bed. "What will it take Distane?" He said in a shaky voice.  
  
Distane looked at his former apprentice. "Why whatever do you mean?"  
  
"You know what I mean....you wouldn't come down here if there wasn't a bargain you had in mind. You brought him to manipulate me." Mozenrath nodded at Zak who was currently gagged. "What will it take for you to..."  
  
"To what, let him go......" Distane began.  
  
Mozenrath shook his head. "You wouldn't keep that promise. Just to have him in here and under his mother's protection. What will it take for you to leave him here with her?"  
  
Distane's smile could have frozen fire. "What do you think I want from you little kitten." he held Mozenrath's chin in his hands and threw Zak into the cell with Chroias. "What do you think I want?"  
  
The door to the cell slammed shut and Mozenrath for the first time began to pray.  
  
Chapter 129 (by me) Zak held his mother as she kicked, screamed, and cried at the fact that her one true love was going through his own personal hell and she was useless to do anything. But Chroias was a smart woman, she knew that her fit would benefit neither of them. Soon she settled down, at least to the point that she could think again.  
  
"Zak, do you think you can get in touch with your sister?" Roais asked her son.  
  
He nodded and closed his eyes, fighting to think clearly enough to get an impression from his sister. "She's in the secondary armory. Nefret is with her, they're both safe. They have the gauntlet. I'll tell her I'm here."  
  
Nefret suddenly noticed Tris had stopped looking for more of those wooden arrows like she had asked.  
  
"It's Zak, he's with mom, locked up." Tris told her.  
  
"And Mozenrath?" Nefret asked warily.  
  
"He went with Distane in trade for Zak. He wanted something." Tris added naively.  
  
Nef's heart sunk. "Oh hell." Nef suddenly went for the door but Tris grabbed her.  
  
"No auntie, we can't go against that guy, not the two of us!! It would be a suicide mission! We need Mamma and Zak." She held her rash aunt still.  
  
Chroias jumped as she heard something outside the door, her heart held it's beat as she waited for the next horror to open the door. But instead she heard whispering. Soft female whispers of 'hold this,' 'hey don't jerk that around so much!' 'Give me the cord.' And many renditions of, 'Ahhh, gods don't do that! This stuff is volatile!'  
  
"Tris, Nef is that you?" Chroias approached the closed door and smiled when they replied in the affirmative. "Careful, the door is anti- magic." She warned as she heard the sound of something placed on the other side of the door.  
  
"Who said we were using magic?" Nefret gave a smirk as she secured the homemade TNT to the wood. "Hang on Roais we're coming for you. Dear, dear friend.." Nefret softened as she realized what Chroias must have been feeling, but she hardened again with renewed determination. "Torch!" she requested of Tris. "Uh, Roais, I'd move as far way as you can if I were you." Nefret advised as she lit the fuse and she and Tris flung themselves down the hall just as the explosion erupted into the hall. Both girls looked at the newly formed hole, make that a humongous hole. They winced realizing they may have over done it a bit on the firepower.  
  
Tris coughed on the dust as she entered the previously locked room. "Mom, Zak?" She called into the cloud.  
  
Chapter 130 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath waited in the room. Distane hadn't shown up yet. He'd murmured something about having to go and get a "security measure". Mozenrath jerked against the chains currently held him. Distane had held him down and wrapped the chains around the bottom bedposts. Of course Mozenrath hadn't offered much resistance. He hadn't wanted to take the chance of making Distane harm one of the children or Chroias.  
  
The door behind him creaked slowly open. Mozenrath was turned in a position to where he couldn't see. He winced as a cold wet object touched his back. Suddenly a soft whimper interrupted his dread. A thin head placed itself on his shoulder and whined, softly licking his cheek.  
  
"Damn mutt." Mozenrath said but smiled at Anubis. The dog sniffed at the chains and growled. "Yeah I don't like em much either." he jerked against them and tried to see if any one was coming. "Anubis....can you find Nefret and Chroias...let them know where I am?"  
  
The hound gave a sharp bark and something almost humanly like a nod.  
  
"Well what are you waiting for? Find them and get them here quickly." Mozenrath silently promised himself to find that dog the biggest bone ever when this whole thing was over.  
  
***********  
  
Chroias began to shake off some of the rubble. She placed a hand to Zak and pulled him out to see Nef and Tris standing over them. "Took you long enough." Chroias growled at Nefret. Only this time there was no pleasant smile to back it up with friendship. Chroias pushed past the others and began to search the weapons Nefret and Tristram had bung.  
  
Zak pulled Nef away from going over to Chroias. "She's been like that the entire time." he complained. "What's going on. Who is that heinous guy and what does he want with dad?" Zak asked Nefret.  
  
Tris accompanied her brother. "Come pun Aunti Nef. I know you know." she gave Nefret a certain look.  
  
Nefret only shook her head. "It's not really my place to tell you." she motioned to Chroias who was examining a nasty looking dagger. "And now is defiantly not the best time to ask her."  
  
"Damn right it isn't." Chroias placed the dagger in her hip boot. She selected a scimitar and a long whip. "Look." she turned to Nefret. "If you guys want to get out now I'll understand. Distane isn't going to be happy when I show up and he'll be a lot less pleased when I kill him. A dieing sorcerer can still perform spells." Chroias ran a finger across the blade. "Everything on me is tempered against magic. But you Nef...you don't have any magical resistance and I can't give you any. And I'm not sure how strong the children are. If you're going to leave do it now. I won't blame any of you."  
  
*********  
  
Mozenrath heard the door swing open. And this time the shadow across the floor left no doubt as to who was coming inside.  
  
"Hello little kitten."  
  
Chapter 131 (by me) "Well what is it going to be?" Chroias asked the assembled group.  
  
"You know we'd never leave you and daddy." Tris held her brothers hand. Chroias nodded and turned to Nefret who had her arms crossed under her chest.  
  
"I don't what your thinking of me right now but..." Nefret Absentmindedly patted Anubis's head as ran in and barked at her feet. "My loyalty lies in this family, the only family I have left." Nefret's eyes burned with something that looked like steel. Anubis continued to raise a ruckus as he pleaded to be given everyone's undivided attention.  
  
"Damn it Nef, shut that demented dog up!!!!!!!" Chroias made a threatening gesture to the dog.  
  
Nefret was about to say something when Anubis placed his front feet on her ribs nearly toppling her over. Nefret dug her fingers under his collar to lift him off, but stopped as she saw something. In the dogs mahogany eyes she could have sworn she saw a reflection of her master. "Anu." She breathed. The dog gave a happy yap and rat out the door. Nefret followed instinctively.  
  
"What are you doing? This is no time to take the dog for walkies!" Chroias caught her arm.  
  
Nefret raised her eyebrow at the demon. "It seems obvious to me that the dog knows more than we do." She simply replied and pulled her arm away. "Coming?" She asked as and walked out the door.  
  
Chroias gave an exasperated look but saw the look on the twins. It was apparent they were curious about the intentions of Anubis to. Picking up the last weapon, Nefret's crossbow, Chroias followed dog and precession  
  
***  
  
Mozenrath's head lay to the side, his cheek pressed firmly to the sheets. His eyes were dead, unblinking and unseeing. He had zoned out completely, consumed in his own mind, consciousness pulled as far away from his body as he could manage. He wanted to remember as little of this as possible.  
  
"I have the strangest feeling of dejavo Little Kitten. Don't you?" Distane ran a hand over Mozenrath leg. Mozenrath felt the acid in his stomach force itself into his throat, but his eyes remained dead. "It seems were back to the good ol' days. That's something one is granted only so often. Allah has smiled upon me." He tangled his fingers in Mozenrath's hair. Mozenrath scrunched his eyes shut in seer disgust. When he opened them again he saw a set of brown eyes level with his. "Ah, the dog seems to like you Little Kitten. Does he want to eat you up, like me?" Distane laughed. Mozenrath ignored the comment as he looked at the dog. The look in the dog's eyes sparked a flame of hope in his heart.  
  
'Good boy. Good boy.' Mozenrath silently praised the hound of his servant.  
  
***  
  
The group stood silently a few doors down, mentally and physically preparing themselves. Anubis barked and heeding his call Nefret took a steep forward. Chroias caught her.  
  
"I'll go in first." She whispered lowly.  
  
Nefret nodded. "By all means La Bella Dame Sans Merci."  
  
Chapter 132 (by Kalynn) Chroias readied her whip and dagger. "When I get my hands on that bastered I swear I'll fillet him and serve him to hell myself" she promised faithfully. Nefret and the twins were close on her heels as they walked to the room.  
  
*********  
  
Mozenrath felt the touch of Distane's lips on his. He chocked back the want to bite and forced himself to think on other things. "Little kitten.....oh how I've missed you."  
  
A sudden light of bright neon green emitted itself behind them. "What the devil?" Distane rose from the man he held captive. Mozenrath begged silently for it to be Chroias.  
  
Distane opened the door and was immediately blown back. Green fire burst out across the floors and crawled up the ceilings. It melted everything in it's path. However when the fire came to Mozenrath, it moved away and began to work the maniacs. Anubis gave a loud howl and Chroias, Nefret, Zakurum, and Tristram walked in. Each prepared to do battle.  
  
Chroias's eyes grew dark red and began to emit a thick red smoke. He wings grew rapidly and the horns on her head became immense. Her whole mouth seemed like fangs as she hissed in a deadly fashion.  
  
Even Zak and Tris had changed over coming them. Zak had become slightly larger and his horns had grown. Tris's teeth were following Chroias's example.  
  
Nefret was not quite as impressive as the demon breeds, but with a crossbow and a nastily curved dagger she was not without a certain ferocity about her.  
  
Chroias wasn't as tall as Distane, but she was tall enough. Her whip uncoiled by her side and she snapped it experimentally in the air. "'Get the hell away from my lover."  
  
Chapter 133 (by me) Distane's psychopathic domineer lapsed for a moment and sheer anger and disappointment showed through. "Bitch, Delilah, harlot!!!!!" He roared as thunder cracked. Nefret narrowed her eyes and looked out the window, clouds rolled and thunder burst the sky apart. The sky had been peaceful not 10 minuets ago. "Nasty." he took a step forward as he insulted the demon, but the sting of Chroias's whip put him in his place.  
  
"I'll show you how much of a bitch I can be!!!" Chroias's roared.  
  
Mozenrath desperately pulled on the wreaking chains. Anubis leapt to the bed and caught Mozenrath's bonds, pulling with all his might. Nefret, seeing that she was the weakest fighter in the battle decided it was best to make herself useful in other ways. She climbed on the bed and began assaulting the manacles.  
  
Distane roared as Chroias's whip slashed him over and over again. The demon was in near frenzy pulling the whip back and slashing it again before Distane could even recover from the last blow. The twins were carefully approaching the cornered sorcerer. Seeing them out of the corner of his eyes Distane finally got the will to act and caught the whip midair on the next strike. He stood to his full height thoroughly pissed. His eyes burned his body seemed to heave to an unbelievable size.  
  
"I own you all!!! This place is mine! It is mine, and I am it!!!!!!" He roared as the floor shook. Everyone stopped what they were doing as the walls contoured and writhed and she ceiling broke it's bonds of beams and twisted. Stone gargoyles in the corners roared to life.  
  
"What the..." Tris managed to say before the bed shot upright to a standing position. Nefret Yelled as she fell off to the floor. Mozenrath nearly slid off, but the chains caught him and he remained strapped to the upright mattress.  
  
"Oh hathor." whispered Nef as the room took on a life of it's own.  
  
Chapter 134 (by Kalyyn) Chroias dodged as a gargoyle snapped its beak at her. She landed besides Mozenrath and immediately snagged one of the chains on him. "Moze you ok." she hollered above the din.  
  
"I'll be better when I'm out of the cuffs." he growled and continued trying to help Nefret.  
  
"No I mean did he....." Chroias held off on saying the final word.  
  
Mozenrath shook his head. "You made it just in time." a snap resounded through the air as one of the cuffs came undone.  
  
Chroias smiled....a dark vulpine grin that would have made a wolf cringe and turn tail. "You don't mind if I kill him anyways do you lover?"  
  
Mozenrath smiled; glad to know Chroias was still her old self. "Be right with you darling." he began to work with the next cuff.  
  
Tris dodged one of the broken timbers and shoved Zak away from another one. "Ready oh darling brother 'o mine." she called as Zak's maniacal grin spread. "Only to ready dearest sister." they turned to their parents. "HANG ON!!!"  
  
A bright goldish green light swarmed around the twins as Distane fell to the ground chocking. The light twisted and contorted around him encasing him in an odd looking spiderish cocoon.  
  
Zak waited till the silky strands had hardened before going to help his mother with the cuff. Nefret was having a hard enough time with only her hands to help.  
  
Just as they heard the second cuff snap loose.....a giant scream resounded around the citadel.  
  
"IT'S TOO MUCH POWER!!!!" Mozenrath called. "This wing is going to collapse!!!"  
  
Nefret grabbed onto Chroias. "HANG ON!!!"  
  
Chapter 135 (by me) "Ohhh.." Tris didn't manage the last part of the curse, the floor shifted and dropped several inches before catching. Everyone looked to each other not even daring to breath as the wing groaned and whined, threatening to go. Things were still for a moment as the group looked to each other exchanging silent messages with their eyes, knowing this might have been their last few breathing moment together.  
  
"Guys.." Chroias started, but it was to late. The floor spit in half as the walls gave way, the entire wing crumbled. Both girls drew in a sharp breath and tried to grab onto anything and anyone close by. But it was to little affect as the disengaging room pried them apart. Most everyone blacked out a few seconds after feeling the ground removed from under them.  
  
Chroias chocked back the dust as she pushed her torso out of the ruble followed by her legs. She turned back around to pull a moaning Mozenrath from the gap. Tris and Zak were also emerging from under the splintered wood and plaster. Surprisingly Anubis was already trotting around with only a few wounds and a slight limp.  
  
"Zak Tris? You ok?" Chroias called as the twins picked over the wreckage to their parents.  
  
"Nothings broken at least." Zak muttered, rubbing his sore neck as he joined his mother. "What happened to Distane?" Zak looked around concerned. A few feet way they saw the remnants of the magic cocoon. It has broken in fine pieces no bigger then ones thumbnail.  
  
Mozenrath's eyes narrowed as he looked around. "Is that the end of him?.." He whispered. "I swear I can still feel his essence. somewhere."  
  
A sudden bark caught all their attentions. Anubis was circling around a beam scratching at the wood frantically. "Nef!" Moze called out with the sudden realization her presence was absent. Everyone ran to the spot Anubis was circling. The demons lifted to beam to reveal a hand emerging from the ruble. Chroias reached for it, but just as she touched the hand it slipped further into the ruble. With a growl Chroias started to dig deeper, everyone got down on hands and knees to help. But every time they found her hand again it would slip from view deeper into the broken wood, plaster, and various shattered vases. After a few minuets of frantic digging they reached the fractured stone of the basement floor, but still no sign of Nefret. Using all their demon born strength Roias, Zak and Tris cleared the heavy stone to reveal the black sand below. The last chunk was pulled away just in time to see Nefret's fingers retreat below the ebony sands. Both Chroias and Mozenrath reached out, but were only able to touch her fingertips before they disappeared completely.  
  
"Wha." Tris breathed utterly confused.  
  
"Portals to the realm of the black sands!" Mozenrath suddenly realized. "Get out!!!" He yelled as he pushed Chroias to the side of the hole. Everyone scrambled to climb out of the crater they had dug. Zak gasped as his footing slipped and the side he was climbing slipped.  
  
"ZAK!!" Chroias cried, but it was to late. Zak had fell back into the cavern following the path Nefret had taken.  
  
Chapter 136 (by Kalyyn) Nefret felt the smothering feeling of sand all about her body. It chocked her breath and made her feel alone and cold. A hand grabbed her out of the blackness and held on. She felt the familiar sensation of a protection spell taking hold over her body.  
  
*******  
  
Chroias began digging around where Nef and Zak had disappeared. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit." she continually muttered under her breath as Mozenrath helped her.  
  
"Their fine." Mozenrath whispered trying to calm her down.  
  
Tris began to mentally scan the area. "Mom dad I think I found something." She bent over and began to dig.  
  
Mozenrath stuck his hand inside the hole she had dug. A breeze of air brushed against it. "There's a cave under here. Keep digging." *******  
  
Nefret felt the hard gravel under her. Her rear still hurt from the drop she had suffered. Zak reared his head beside hers. "Aunti Nef you ok?"  
  
Nefret nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. Where are we?"  
  
"You are in my sanctuary" The powerful voice filled the room and boomed in the companion's ears. It surrounded them like a fence would a dog and shook them to the ground.  
  
"Who are you?" Nefret called out as a form shifted in the blackness.  
  
"I am she that haunts man and captivates his soul. I am destruction and death eternal. I am haltered and suffocation. Dawn and dusk. I am the very center of the creature who haunts Mozenrath's soul and brings him pain." The form began to move into the light. It was roughly female figures save for the fact that it had no legs. It pressed to the shadows. "I am the effret of the Gauntlet and the darkness that looms inside it."  
  
Finally the figure moved into the light. Nefret held back a breath of fear. It was like seeing an oil slick move. Black eye's as soulless as Distane's glared calmly at her. It looked passively at Zak and continued speaking. "I am the raiser of Distane and his own privet hell. I am your deaths."  
  
Chapter 137 (by me) "But why. Why Moze." Nefret fell silent as the thing seemed to grin, hideous and chilling to the bone.  
  
"Man is but greed. Wanting always more, more... A man with want in his heart has no sense of corollary. Mozenrath's heart is but greed. He wants and I shall give. The sin of Gluttony must be punished. I am the provider of that punishment."  
  
"Let us go!" Zak commanded in a tone truly worthy of the son of Mozenrath. "What's the point of killing us?"  
  
"To bring a tidal wave of misery upon the shoulders of the sorcerer. I am everything you fear. I am your terror, the thing that lurks in your mind and scares you to all ends." The thing approached the two as Zak tried to strengthen the protection spell. "I see your soul and know what hides there, what would destroy you." The effret looked directly at Nefret, right into her. "Yes I see, and I am." She whispered as a hissing growl rose from behind her.  
  
Nefret felt her stomach drop as she recognized the unmistakable sound of a Nile crocodile. It slinked from behind the effret like a snake on legs and whipped it's tail as if readying for a death roll, it's teeth bloody and eyes gouged out by its last frantic victim. An image burned into Nef's memory with searing pain at a very young age. This thing, this demon animal had taken her father, and now it was here for her, at least that was Nefret's Mentality at the moment. "May your worst fear be realized!" the effret hissed as if it were a toast of good will. Nefret swallowed hard as she backed against the cave wall. She gagged at the feeling of weight pressing down on her and she couldn't breath. She was drowning, drowning in a river that wasn't there, and the demonic beast was approaching.  
  
"Auntie Nef!" Zak cried, but he was caught in the effret's soulless stare.  
  
"What of you? What is your fear? Show me.  
  
Chapter 138 (by Kalynn) Zak tried to pull away from the creatures grip, but it caressed him as a mother would. "Come now little boy, tell me your fears." she pressed her lips delicately to his cheek. A wave of coldness swept over him.  
  
Zak felt her tugging at his brain, he tried to increase his power, but it refused it respond. "Let ME go!" he screamed against her.  
  
The creature only laughed.  
  
***********************  
  
Mozenrath feel through the tunnel first. It was dank and dark. Twisting this way and that before him. "It's all right!" he yelled up to Chroias and Tris. "I think It's...."  
  
A scream followed down the caves. A distinctly female scream.  
  
"Nef!!" Chroias screamed and jumped down beside her lover.  
  
"Auntie...!" Tris started to jump down as her father stopped her.  
  
"We can handle it. And we don't know if Distane is actually down here or not. I want you to stay up top and keep an eye out for him." Mozenrath gave his daughter a stern look, he wasn't going to be swayed.  
  
Tris nodded. "All right, but get them out of there."  
  
***********************  
  
Zak cringed as he heard Nefret scream. She was on the floor and holding her head. "Aunt It's an illusion!" he screamed out to her just before the creature's blackness took him completely.  
  
"What are you afraid of?" It swam in his mind and called up few memories. "Ah. So this Tris is your sister? You fear for her life." A smile encased his mind as she called her powers. Zak tried to call out to his twin, but fell down into the darkness before he could.  
  
Chapter 139 (by me) Zak's view of the cave slipped and was replaced by the distorted vision of something above the cavern. Something shifting along the sand behind his unsuspecting sister. "Watch her death. See it though the eyes of the killer!" a voice laughed.  
  
Chroias closed her eyes and seemed to search the air. Her previous mind connection made it all the easier to connect with her friend. 'Where ARE you?' she was getting anxious when she felt the girls presence radiating from the right. "This way!!" she called running to the source. As she did the waves became stronger, until she could see a veiled translucent image of what Nef saw overlapping her own vision. Nef's feet and wrists were tangled firmly in seaweed. The crocodile slid though the water snaking its head seductively. "Nef?" Chroias whispered in her mind.  
  
"Roais?" came the response. "You have to get out of here, it's coming. Please I couldn't stand it if it hurt you!"  
  
"There's nothing there Nef, it's all a delusion." Chroias tried to hide the urgency in her voice. It was as real to Nefret, and if this went on her own fear and unquestionable conviction of death would stop her heart. "Nef, what did they do with the crocodile that killed your father?" No response. "ANSWER ME!!!!"  
  
"They killed it.. . I saw. the body. No he's dead, this isn't real!!!" Nefret screamed out loud, so loud Chroias and Mozenrath finally found them. The effret snarled as they entered her liar. Mozenrath choked when he saw it. Never had he seen something like her.  
  
"There's the one I vex. Something the matter sorcerer, don't you recognize your own fate? Don't you recognize the one who has shaped you past, present." The thing let Zak drop to the ground still absorbed in the play running in his mind. "And future?"  
  
Mozenrath stood with a blank face trying to decipher the enigma. Chroias spared a glance to Nefret who was still coming out of her stupor. The girl stared endlessly at the demon and all that needed to be said seemed to flash between them in a moment. Chroias understood now, this effret was living off Mozenrath's need for power, his greed, and making her lovers life hell in the process. A new breed of succubus?  
  
"I have given much to you. It's time I collect again." She hissed and possessively pulled Zak and Nefret closer to her. "Mine." She simply said with a domineering grin.  
  
Chroias clung to her lover as he took a step forward. "This thing has lived off of you, your pain, your greed. To defeat it. You must do something unselfish." She whispered.  
  
Chapter 140 (by kalynn) Mozenrath stared blankly at Chroias for a moment. "Unselfish." he said completely clueless.  
  
"Yes unselfish." Chroias nodded. She looked up at the demon and screamed as she realized it now held Tris as well as Zak and Nefret in it's clutches.  
  
Mozenrath thought desperately. "Something unselfish" He looked down at his gauntlet.  
  
Chroias caught what he was looking at. "Mozenrath..."  
  
"Like you said. Unselfish." Mozenrath took off his glove and threw it at the effret yelling. "This is how you intend to control me? Well then you can take it back."  
  
Chapter 141 (by me) The gauntlet landed smack dab at the effret's feet. She looked at it rather puzzled for a moment then picked it up. Staring at the old leather then at her captives she grinned. "A noble gustier." She swept her hand over the region that in a human would encase her heart. The black ectoplasm like skin twisted and pulled away to form a little whirlpool where she placed the gauntlet. "You don't want it? Some other poor fool will. But I'll leave you with one parting thought." She whispered as she picked up Tris and placed a claw like finger to her throat.  
  
Chroias gasped and took a step forward but Mozenrath's arm shot out to stop her. "Wait." he ordered. They both stared blankly as the effret smiled at them, daring them to try and stop her, but they didn't move. Feeling slightly shaken the effret dug a claw into Tris's neck, still no response from the girl's parents. Even when blood started to trickle from the puncture wound Mozenrath and Chroias didn't even flinch.  
  
"Why don't you stop me sorcerer?" The demon asked nonchalantly as she tipped her head to the side.  
  
"I already have." He smiled with his eyes firmly at her chest. With a confused look the effret followed his gaze to her chest. There under the skin was a stirring, and a slight light. The effret gasped as she realized what was happening. Dropping Tris she clung to her chest as it bulged and shifted like something was trying to escape.  
  
"no,no,no NO NO." She screamed. Every limb seemed to go limp as she fell her knees and slumped on her side. Mozenrath and Chroias took a step forward to stare at the shivering thing. The effret gave a small smile, and with her dying breath she whispered, "So it is in you to be selfless. Remember I'm an product of mankind, I'm eternal." But her words fell flat as the figures seemed to melt away along with her deeds.  
  
"Dad." Came Tris's whispering voice. "Mom?"  
  
Chroias gathered Tris, Zak, and Nefret in her arms for a hug. "It over now, it's all over." She assured them in a truly mothering voice. Mozenrath ginned manically as he plucked the gauntlet off the ground and shook the oil like substance off it. He slipped it over his bone hand and joined Chroias's side.  
  
Chapter 142 (by Kalynn) Chroias waved goodbye to Zak and Tris as they disappeared over the horizon. She was slightly sad to see the kids go, but they had lives to return to..as did she.  
  
Nefret gave Mozenrath a pouty look. "But you could have set me free!" she said knowing that he really could have. "It would have been a noble and kind gesture!" she complained.  
  
"Not to mankind." Mozenrath muttered out of the corner of his mouth. He then ducked the pillow sent billowing his way. Nefret gave her lord a nasty but unproven look. Mozenrath merely managed a weak smile as Chroias walked in.  
  
"Nice to know things are getting back to normal." she put an arm around Mozenrath and kissed him gently on the cheek.  
  
"Or at least as normal as they get around here." Nefret commented wirily from the side.  
  
Mozenrath brought Chroias in for a deep kiss and made a quick but sure hand gesture from Nefret to the door. Nefret only leaned against the side of the throne and grinned. "Not a chance Moze." She put her hand on his arm as Chroias came up for air. "I think I'll just hang around and...."  
  
"Poke your nose where it doesn't really need to be." Chroias finished and gave Nefret a pleading look. The plum haired girl tussled her locks and gave them both an indignant look. "Well FINE. Just go on and see if I ever help you defeat and ancient evil again!" she walked off swearing in her own language.  
  
Mozenrath brought Chroias down for another kiss. "Now where were we?" he grinned gently and started to cover her lips with his. 


	9. Patron9

Patron part 9  
  
Previously: Mozenrath's demon girlfriend Chroias has moved into the Citadel and she and Nefret have become best friends. Together they have had many adventures: Xerxes and Nefret were banished for treason though Nef was found innocent and brought back. Chroias bore Mozenrath's twin children, Tris and Zak. Both twins grew at an exasperating rate and found love. A failed assassination attempt on Mozenrath organized by Chroias's father Hades, in which Nefret's body was possessed and used by the demon mercenary Nemisis. And finally Mozenrath's old master appears again, raised by the effret of the gauntlet to make his life hell. After the defeat of the effret Mozenrath and Chroias seek some alone time, Nefret however is less happy. With the twins away and both Chroias and Mozenrath occupied Nefret feels rather lonely.  
  
Chapter 143 (by me) Nefret stormed down the hall, her bare feet slamming hard on the floor. Anubis soon joined her and gave her a questioning whine. "They really know how to make a girl feel unwelcome. No one is nice to me anymore!" She fell into a couch with a deep sigh feeling quite dejected. Just then there was a knock.  
  
"Nefret get the door!!" Mozenrath bellowed from the throne room.  
  
The Egyptian girl scowled as she got up. "Oh yes Nefret, let us tease you and banish you from the room, but do be a good little servant and get the door." Nefret voiced sarcastically as she reached the door. "I swear I don't know why they treat me." She broke off her wondering as she pulled open the door.  
  
"Oh beautiful sitt, great and honest woman, intelligent and graceful madam," a small boy spouted off.  
  
"Save it boy, I don't have money to tip you." Nefret was in little mood for the moneymaking tactics of messengers.  
  
The boys you face fell. "Oh. Here's your message." He handed her a scroll. "It's from your brother Apepe." He added shuffling his feet. Nefret sighed and took a gold bracelet off her arm. He grabbed it and with a quick bow ran off.  
  
Nef began to read. "My sweet sister, it seems Egypt will have to go without the last remaining scamps of the Anuxanamoon family. I have decided to stay in Agrabah, for now at least. It seems to me this town is in great need for good messenger boys, so I will lend my services."  
  
Nefret smiled wryly. "Lire." But she continued reading.  
  
"My heart has not been well without you. I can only hope you are as doing better than me. Tris has retuned today and reported you are well, but I still worry of you being around that. well I shouldn't go into that incase he gets a hold of his message before you. Dear sister, I am here and close by. Your word would bring me running to you in a flash. Always remember that. ~Apepe"  
  
Nefret finished with a little smile and misty eyes. She clung the scroll to her chest and walked off.  
  
Chapter 144 (by Kalynn) Chroias giggled from behind the door. Nefret could here the two inside quite a lot better then she really cared to, but whatever. She smiled and walked down the corridors. "Dear Horus how did it get so dark in here?" she wondered and lit a torch. The halls were still a grimy gray and needed a desperate scrubbing. "I'll be lucky if he doesn't try to get me to wash down the whole Citadel." Mozenrath was always in a very commanding mood after he spent time with Chroias.  
  
Nefret sighed and walked into her room. It had gotten a lot nicer after Chroias had come along and was now well decorated in Egypt/Arabic/Greek motif. Chroias was, thank Horus a fantastic decorator and had gotten all three cultures to combine quite nicely.  
  
Plumping down on her bed, Nefret looked up at the star decorated ceiling. Chroias had used some of her magic so that the ceiling was a perfect rendition of a clear night sky. Ever color and hue was absolutely perfect. Nefret sighed. It made her feel so lonely.  
  
Chroias had Mozenrath, Zak had Domdi, Tris had Apepe. Who was left for her? Nefret's thoughts returned to the conversation she and Chroias had made months ago. All about Aladdin. Nefret could readily admit the man was rakishly handsome. Not swave and sophisticated like Mozenrath, but still handsome.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING" Nefret's inner voice called. "Al is a married man. Handsome or not he is another woman's." Nefret sighed.  
  
Loneness is a difficult place to be in.  
  
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Mozenrath rolled over onto Chroias and began to massage her back. It wasn't something he did often, but now was a point in which they needed it. He had always loved the feeling of her whipcord yet sweetly feminine muscles under his palms. It somehow gave him comfort.  
  
Chroias sighed and released some tension. She was adoring the attention Moze seemed to be giving her, but had her mind on other things. Nefret for one.  
  
Having gone through the past few days, she suddenly realized how very isolated Nefret was in their world. Nefret was a charming, wild young woman. Were she still living in Egypt, Nef would have a husband and a few little brats running around.  
  
Of course it would be useless to ask Nef about any of it. In many ways the little minion was a lot like Mozenrath. Blotting out one emotion with another. Hiding her most interpersonal feelings from all eyes. Perhaps that was what Chroias admired most about Nefret. She had grown up all on her own.  
  
Mozenrath sensed Chroias's tension. "You all right." he said and began to kneed her back.  
  
Chroias smiled, a light smile that said her mind was troubled. "I'll be fine." she sighed, knowing Mozenrath would pick up on the hint.  
  
Mozenrath stopped massaging. "Ok, what are you going to talk me into now?" he pulled her into his arms and gave her an I-KNOW-YOU look.  
  
Chroias hugged him close. "It's about Nefret."  
  
*********************  
  
Nefret slept in her bed contently. The warm sheets covered her supple body. As she slept a shadow moved just outside her window.  
  
The shadow became identifiable as feminine as it turned sideways. A short, white toga adorned her body as she slipped into Nef's room. A soft neighing occurred and Nefret moved in the bed. The shadow froze until Nefret settled back down. Then she shot a golden arrow into Nefret's pillow.  
  
Nefret came awake with a start and dodged the oncoming rope, unfortunately not quick enough. The goldish rope bounded her tightly and the female shadow smiled. "Welcome to our ranks sister." she said and scooped Nefret out to the balcony where a gray mare with wings lay waiting. The woman flung Nefret across the horses back and took off into the night sky  
  
Chapter 145 (by me) Nefret's curses rang out though the night and only stopped when she was hauled in front of a throne and let go. To curious to run Nefret huffed and waited for whatever would happen next. Considering the last few weeks whatever it was was bound to be to her disliking.  
  
The stately woman sitting on the throne contemplated her for a moment then spoke. "Nefret," her voice rang clear. Nef looked up slightly surprised to hear name. "Do you know who I am girl?"  
  
"Someone with a beef with Mozenrath no doubt." Nefret threw up her hands.  
  
"I have no interest in that man." The woman rose gracefully. "I am Queen Hipposdeth of the Galifemes. And I, girl, am interested in you." She finished. Nefret narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Humm.. Think of our troop as a sophisticated version of the Amazons. Female warriors of the expert kind. We are always looking for potential members, and you Nefret Anuxanmooon came under our gaze. I have high hopes you are capable enough to join our elite sorority."  
  
Nefret's brow remained cocked through the entire speech. "Let me get this straight, you don't want to kill me?" the queen shook her head. "Well that's more than I can say for the last few people I've meet.. Hey listen I'm no warrior. I'm a scribe, a dancer, and even a halfway decent minion, but no soldier. I can think of so many others.."  
  
The queen interrupted her. "Training you will be easy. Anyone can learn to fight, it's the spirit we look for. That's something that can't be taught. And you my girl have an overabundance of it." She placed a hand on the girls shoulder.  
  
Nefret suddenly jerked away. "I'm not really interested. Now I'll just climb back onto that flying death trap you call a Pegasus and you can take me back to my bed." Nefret smiled nonchalantly.  
  
"No." Hippodeth said simply.  
  
"No?!" Nefret repeated.  
  
"Back to your own bed, and what? Your old life? Would that make me happy." She stopped Nefret before she could answer. "Would it really make you happy to go back to be the pet of that man?" Nefret was about to say yes, but the way the queen put it made her hesitate. "Not such an easy answer is it? We'll see what you can do starting tomorrow." The queen cradled her cheek briefly before motioning for her to be taken way.  
  
Nefret was stripped of everything. Her clothed replaced with a simple tunic and all jewelry was removed.  
  
Nefret pulled on the barred door of her cell, but it was locked tight. She growled hitting the bars with her shoulder, hurting herself more then the metal. She cried out an expletive unfit for even the most hardened ears. "Yes, I do want to go back. It may not be a choice life, but I had friends. Even if some of them were less than nice to me at times. It's better than this!" God, Nefret whished she had thought of that speech in the throne room. She sighed as she sunk into the small cot provide for her. "I wonder if they'll come for me this time." she thought out loud, then she mentally chastised herself for the thought. 'Hathor be damned if I'm going to just sit here! So they like my spirit eh? They won't like it so much when I use it to get outa here and bring this place down!' Nefret smiled smugly as she pulled the black onyx ring from her hair. The ring flashed and sent a warm felling up her spine as Nefret slipped it onto her pinky. "Glad to see you to."  
  
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Mozenrath's grip around Chroias loosened. "What about Nef?" He relaxed back expecting it to be something trivial like some wrong he had said to her, or something the girl wanted. But as Chroias's face remained distressed he held her tight again. "Chroias? Is something wrong? What is it?"  
  
Chapter 146 (by Kalynn) Chroias's eyes were set in a deadly rage as she entered Nef's room. He face glanced everywhere at once trying to determine what had happened. A glint of gold caught her eye. "Mozenrath!" she called allowed to her lover. He entered the room just barely behind her and removed the golden arrow from his minion's pillow.  
  
"Galifems." he whispered.  
  
"What?" Chroias asked having no clue as to what he meant.  
  
"Think of them as pumped up Amazons." Mozenrath inspected the arrow. "Warrior women. Not half bad at their job either."  
  
"You sound as though you respect them." Chroias detected the tone of his voice.  
  
"About as much as one would respect a desert cobra around his foot." Mozenrath looked around the room. "The worst part is I have absolutely no clue in which direction Galfemian is!" he looked out onto the parapet where a feather lay. "Xerxes would have been able to smell the direction." he growled and threw the feather down. "I have no idea how to..."  
  
Mozenrath had just noticed that Chroias was paying no attention to him whatsoever. Her nose was in the air, eye's closed, delicately sniffing the air for any sign. "West....no South West." she proclaimed "There is a very defiant smell of horse manure in a southwest direction."  
  
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Nefret worked on the bars to her cell and frowned as she realized they wouldn't pry easily. She worked her ring back and fourth till she could get it working properly. The thing had been on the fritz ever since she'd arrived here. It ignited with a sudden blast and destroyed the bars, melting them down to waste. "Haha." She looked around outside to see if anyone had acknowledged the uproar.  
  
***********  
  
As Nefret slipped through the bars and wandered off into the lush greenery two figures watched her. "Oh my but she is a spirited one isn't she." the plum red head said.  
  
"YES!" Queen Hippsodettiea agreed. "Just what we need."  
  
Chapter 147 (by me) Nefret stopped in her tracks and looked around. She had suddenly noticed the calm. That was odd, she had half expected to be caught by now. Feeling quite smug she wondered onto one of the pillar-lined paths. " 'Warriors of the expert kind' my sweet ass! This is going to be a brezzzzzeeee." Nefret's last word was pulled into a shriek as a pillar tipped towards her. In fact they were all falling, leaving no place for refuge on the path. Seeing her only escape Nefret took off down the path as the heavy stone columns bowed to the ground in succession. It was like a wave, bearing down, threatening to collapse its walls before she reached the end of it. With a flying leap she skittered to a stop just inches from where the last pillar fell amid a loud boom. Nefret lay wide-eyed and panting. That was until she spotted the dogs. Fierce, wolf like dogs, heavy with thick bones and muscle bulk, nothing like the whip-like corded body of Anubis. Froth seethed from their jowls as their blood shot eyes landed on the young woman. Those eyes said one thing 'hunger.'  
  
*****  
  
Hooves stormed across the desert floor kicking up a cloud of sand in their paths. Chroias reined her horse to a stop. "Anything?" Mozenrath asked as he joined her, shifting uncomfortably in his saddle. He had never enjoyed riding. Why ride when he could just zap himself anywhere? But of course to zap himself anywhere, he needed to know the direction, and he had no idea in this situation. Mozenrath huffed and looked around. His little minion had a knack of getting into the most exasperating situations! Sometimes he wondered if she was worth the hassle she inherently came with. If it were anyone else but Nef he'd have kicked her out by now. His thinking was cut short as Chroias perked up.  
  
"This way, I think we're close!" Chroias grinned and whipped up her horse. By her demonic heritage she had always enjoyed the hunt. And so help her if even one of Nef's hairs was split she'd just let that demonic side of hers take over!  
  
Mozenrath grimaced a little before spurring his horse into a gallop. He knew the training methods of the Galifems. He only prayed Nefret was able to get through the initiation.  
  
*****  
  
Nefret ripped though the countryside with the pack of dogs hot on her heals. She was getting tired, but the nipping of their teeth on her ankles when she slowed kept her at full gait. Ahead she saw a ravine at least 10 feet across. 'I can make that, I just hope the dogs can't. I can make it!' she assured herself and leapt. Midair the ravine widened, the opposite side pulling way from her. With a yelp she missed land by about 3 feet and plummeted downward. Nef's breath caught as she hit something springy and soft, a net. Cradled in the swaying net Nefret looked up to see the queen a stout lady looking down at her.  
  
"Congratulations sister, you passed the first test!!!!" the heavy woman giggled.  
  
Nefret let her head fall back as she realized it has all been a trial. They were good, VERY good. Nef laugh at her earlier smugness and she fell back into the net.  
  
Chapter 148 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath looked over the edge of the ravine and smiled. Depend on Chroias to find something so well hidden. The gully was deeper then any he had every seen. The walls plummeted down ward into a thick mist of silver. It hide the bottom from view. But rising just above the tops of the mist, were two towers. Shining white in the midmorning sun. "Brilliant." he murmured and kissed Chroias on the cheek. He kicked the horse into a ganter and was about to take them both off the edge when Chroias stopped him.  
  
"Just how are you expecting we get to Nefret?" she said and gave Mozenrath a use your brain glance.  
  
"OH! I was planning to float us down there, zap everything in existence and pull us all right back out." Mozenrath flared the gauntlet and fried a near by tree. He gave Chroias a convincing smile, which dropped when he saw her look.  
  
"Mozenrath You said your self these women were not idiots. Bedsides there are probably a thousand of them and only two of us." Chroias looked over the edge of the ravine again. "This is going to take stealth and coordination." she tapped her boot heel in thought. Her mind raced with half-baked ideas which she quickly disposed of and then hit upon a scheme. "Ah Ha!" she giggled as she knew what else it would mean.  
  
"Ah Ha what?" Mozenrath looked his girlfriend over carefully. "What have you found?"  
  
"An idea that might just work if neither of us get stupid." Chroias immediately let her body change. Her hair turned a soft auburn color again and her pale features darkened slightly. Her red eyes turned a sweet innocent honey brown and her horns sunk into her head. Her gargoylish feet turned soft and delicate and her tail shrank away into nothing.  
  
She changed her outfit as well. Replacing the black leather with the toga she had been informed that the Galifemes were fond of. "Well how do I look?" she asked Mozenrath.  
  
The sorcerer eyed her approvingly. "Nice." He noticed how well the outfit complemented her natural litheness. "Very nice!" he grinned suggestively and then caught the look on Chroias's face. "What?"  
  
"Sorry Moze." she said and couldn't hide a giggle. "But this is for Nefret."  
  
Mozenrath was about to ask what again as she lifted him into the air and let her wild magic surround him. "Roi what are you....doing?" On the last word Mozenrath's voice changed to a high soprano. His stature shrank slightly and he/she felt parts of her/his body begin to change. Her hips became larger and more substantial. Feminine replaced masculine as the magic continued to weave. Her chest grew impressively as her features became somewhat softer and her lips felt odd. The thick eyelashes became soft and demure as Mozenrath the worlds most powerful sorcerer changed into a woman.  
  
Chroias desperately tried not to laugh. "We also need to change your clothes."  
  
Chapter 149 (by me) Mozenrath pulled modestly at the short cotton toga barely covering the tops of his thighs. He grumbled as he and Chroias walked the roads trying to smile sweetly at the passing Glamifems. They had snuck into the city and were trying to blend in. Hopefully the warrior's numbers were so large not every member would know who should be there and who shouldn't. So far they had gotten some looks, but no one said anything.  
  
"Chroias, I'm going to do something not nice to you for this!" Mozenrath whispered out the side of his mouth still trying to smile at a guard.  
  
"It's for Nef. Just keep telling yourself that." Chroias whispered back.  
  
"That isn't helping." the newly made woman shot back.  
  
"Oh, you should be proud, you make a damn fine woman!" Chroias elbowed him. Before he could reply with a nasty comment a woman stopped them.  
  
"Hello sisters! I don't remember seeing you here before.." a stout flame haired woman bubbled. Both Chroias and Mozenrath looked at each other. Who would handle this one?  
  
"Uh we have been on missions for some time.." Mozenrath explained with his hand at this throat, he still wasn't used to his new voice.  
  
"Yes, but it is so good to be back among our sisters." Chroias smiled sweetly and offered a hug to the fat woman to cement their allusion of sisterhood. "Is everything well here? Anything new?" Chroias asked nonchalantly. "ANYONE new?"  
  
"Oh yes. Our latest entry just arrived last night! She's a WILD one!!!! She made it all the way to The Leap in the first test!" the fat woman raved as if it should have some meaning.  
  
Chroias nodded as if she knew exactly what the other woman was talking about. "That far eh? Well... My sister and I," she motioned to Mozenrath. "Are always interested in seeing the new ones. Where might we find. what was her name?" Chroias was milking her act to the extreme. Mozenrath elbowed her, warning her not to go to far.  
  
"Oh I wouldn't know, Queen Hippodeth has taken the girl under her wing. Sisters." The woman acknowledged before skipping off.  
  
Chroias sighed in disappointment. "Damn, so it's not going to be that easy." The demon tapped her foot in thought. Mozenrath one again took to fooling with the hem of his skirt. "Alright! Were going to have to search the city. You go that way, I'll go this way." Chroias started to walk off, Mozenrath grabbed her arm complaining that she couldn't leave him, not like that! "Oh come on! You'll be fine, just start to worry if this is a Saffoic society." Chroias giggled as Mozenrath eyes widened. "Just kidding."  
  
Mozenrath strolled through the gardens trying his best to take small measured, dainty steps. 'Why do woman walk like this!? It's damn hard!!!' Moze grumbled to himself when a door of a building ahead opened. Out stepped a stately woman, but her dignified manner was the last thing Mozenrath noticed. Around her neck was a chain with Nefret's ring hanging from it.  
  
"It is the belief of our sority that the only way to let your spirit free is to live a life dedicated to your sisters." The queen preached as she turned to see another woman out the door. "Do you understand Nefret?"  
  
Nefret sipped out the door dressed in a peach colored toga and her hair pulled into a tight bun. "No, I don't see how any of these women's spirit can be free if you abduct them from their beds." Nefret quipped joining the queen's side. "Or when you take away their most treasured possessions." Nefret motioned to the ring.  
  
"You will get it back when I can trust you child." Hippodeth laughed.  
  
"And that will never come to pass." Nefret muttered as she passed Mozenrath. Nefret looked over to see a dark haired woman standing in the garden. Something about the woman made Nefret tip her head to the side in wonder, she was pretty, but there was something strange about her. The woman waved as if trying to say something more. Nefret didn't wave back as she passed her. Mozenrath suddenly reached out and gabbed her shoulder. Both the queen and Nefret stopped to look at the woman expectantly.  
  
Chapter 150 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath smiled, hoping to fool them both. "So nice to see a new sister in our ranks." she grinned and hoped Nefret would see some similarity in it.  
  
Unfortunately she didn't...yet. "Ummm yeah. I'm just loving it here." She whistled sarcastically and shook the woman's shoulder off. "So what's your name?"  
  
Mozenrath searched desperately in her mind for an answer. "Combi." she said quickly. "Combi from the island of Greece." she added more to the illusion by wrapping her arm protectively about Nefret's shoulder.  
  
"I used to know someone from there." Nefret said before she could stop herself. Suddenly she noticed that the woman calling herself Combi was decidedly leading them away from the Queen. Thank the lords that the Queen seemed to be interested in another person's business.  
  
Suddenly the woman whipped Nefret around a pillar. "Nef you okay?" she said desperately trying to deepen her voice to a recognizable level.  
  
Nefret stared momentarily. She blinked once, twice, three times. And a slow sardonic smile crept over her face. "I ...Don't...Believe...It!" she murmured punctuating each word on the verge of giggling.  
  
Mozenrath frowned and snarled. "Get over it." she whispered in the high soprano voice.  
  
***************  
  
Chroias looked around the vineyard. Grapes grew in abundance here. Each row held a different color. She picked one delicately and munched on it. "Ummmm. Nice." Of course she really shouldn't be concentrating on grapes. She should be trying to find...  
  
"Chroias." the high soprano voice rang out in the air.  
  
"Mozen....." she turned and was only too happy to see Nefret running along with a desperately trying to keep up Mozenrath.  
  
"Nefret" she pulled her friend into a hug. "Gods but I'm glad to see you again."  
  
Nefret hugged her back but didn't answer. She made a muffled giggling sound. "I can't believe you did that to him."  
  
Chroias heard Mozenrath grumble something that she was sure she didn't want to hear. "Yeah well I didn't have much of a choice."  
  
Mozenrath roughly seized both girls. "Yeah well let's get the blazes out of here. I have no desire to stay in this body any more then I have to." Chroias was just about to zap them out when a familiar voice rang out.  
  
"Oh darling. Nefiee there you are." The plump red head hugged the plum haired girl tightly. "Come on darling you passed the test. Now it's time for the Ceremony."  
  
"Ceremony?" Mozenrath inquired.  
  
"Oh yes. She'll be getting her full Galefemien armor. Her own horse, Her own barracks with the other girls and best of all, a years supply of make up." The red head absolutely looked thrilled until she noticed the look on Mozenrath's face. "Why darling you look like you could use a party yourself." She whisked her arms around Mozenrath's female body. "Maybe we could even give each other makeovers."  
  
Mozenrath gave Chroias and Nefret a desperate glance and a help me gesture. Both the girls held there hands up. It would be easier to simply go with the flow till night fall them try to escape among a thousand trained warriors.  
  
Chapter 151 (by me) Mozenrath grumbled as Chroias pulled him from behind the dressing screen wearing a fancy new toga. Both Nefret and the stout woman made a little sound of approval though Nefret's sounded more like a sniffled laugh. Everyone had been treated to a new set of cloths. Nefret's differed form the others, it was a bit more flamboyant and meant for the ceremony. Chroias had her hair elaborately braided, and Nefret's had been expertly formed into an updo of sausage curls.  
  
"Ow!!!" Mozenrath yelled as Chroias accidentally dug a pin in his half styled hair. "Just leave it alone!" He shooed her hands away.  
  
"Now Combi, your just tense! Relax tonight is a fun night. Make Nef feel welcome." The red head pleaded.  
  
"Yes Combi, do be a good girl and look nice for my ceremony!" Nefret jutted out her lip in a mock pout as she plunked down in front of her. "Now look up.." Nefret instructed as she took out a jar of kohl and a stick. Mozenrath almost complied but caught himself.  
  
"Oh no, your not putting any of that on me! I'm not going to have 10 tons of black crap on my face like you" she pulled Nefret closer by the arm. "Are you forgetting who I am? I am your lord and master! And no minion of mine will make a fool of." Mozenrath was cut off as Nefret roughly applied red tint to her lips. Mozenrath looked at himself in the mirror. He/she growled at her cherry lips and rosy cheeks. "Oh thank you sister Nefret." She said through clenched teeth. "Now let me return the favor!" Moze suddenly forced Nefret to the chair and towered over her, offering no escape. Nefret floundered about a bit and cursed, but Moze would not be put off. When he stepped back Chroias had to laugh. The entirety of Nef's eye lids where one black streak, and two clown like circles of crimson dotted her cheeks.  
  
"Oh you think that's funny huh?" Nefret ran at Chroias with a case of rice powder as the demon girl laughed and squealed.  
  
"NO!!" Roias yelled excitedly, but there was wamping sound followed by a cloud of white powder.  
  
Chapter 152 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath couldn't believe it, but he was actually enjoying himself. Among these women there was an odd sort of sisterhood. The same kind that always seemed to be present when Chroias and Nefret were close to each other. It was so very odd, and yet so very familiar.  
  
*********  
  
Later that night, as the encampment slept, three female figures snuck quietly up the cavern walls and out of Galifemiea.  
  
*********  
  
Mozenrath awoke to the cool summer morning and the sun putting an unfamiliar light on his pale face. He was currently still a she, but only because Chroias had been to tired from the climb to change her back to a he. But she, Chroias, had promised to do so after a full nights sleep.  
  
"Ok everybody ready?" Chroias asked as the green magic flooded her fingers. Mozenrath nodded and stood out for the magic to flow properly. "And here we go!!"  
  
Chroias's magic flew around the female form and combined itself into a cocoon like it had before. The green sparks flew everywhere and suddenly dissipated.  
  
Mozenrath let out a big sigh. "God it feels god to be back to my.......self." Mozenrath stared. The high soprano voice had not changed. "Chroias...." the female voice called to the demoness.  
  
Chroias and Nefret both stared guiltily at Mozenrath. "Ummmm Moze I don't know what went wrong.....but..."  
  
Nefret interceded. "Moze is it a little cold to you?" she asked and hinted gently with her head.  
  
Mozenrath moaned. This was going to be a long adventure.  
  
Chapter 153 (by me) Mozenrath snarled at the backs of the female figures ahead of him. In all truth he himself was a female figure just as they were, highlighted by the midmorning sun, and that was the exact cause of his resentment. Chroias had claimed fatigue from the heavy allusion spells she had cast a few days before as the cause of her inability to complete the reverse spell. But she looked far from tired as she and Nefret walked ahead singing some nonsensical or foreign song at the top of their lungs. Mozenrath rubbed his temples as the girls tempo pitched at an apparently funny part. Seeing the anguish on his face Chroias sighed and wrapped an arm around Mozenrath's now dainty shoulders. Nefret patted her masters (or mistresses) hand in an almost sympathetic manner but proceeded to hum the song.  
  
The three women entered the gates of the city clutching here stomachs in hunger.  
  
Nefret begged to stop at every pastry stand and café they passed but none seemed to pass Mozenrath's strict sanders.  
  
"I'm not eating greasy food at a filthy table like a commoner!" He snorted, then poked the soft pooch in Nefret's belly. "Don't worry Nef, you wont starve anytime soon." That earned him a deadly glare, but nothing else.  
  
"What the hell town is this anyways?" Chroias suddenly asked.  
  
"Abydos." Mozenrath answered flatly, he hated to admit it but he was so hungry he would gladly eat at one of the slums Nef had pointed out. Just then a paper was shoved in his face. "What." he started to read. It apparently was some sort of official invitation. The king (a man with an extensive library of magic might I add) was inviting the most beautiful women of the town to a ball. The prize given to those he fancied would be a place in his harem. Mozenrath lowed the paper and gave his minion a funny look.  
  
"The men over there gave it to me. They said we 'qualified'" Nefret laughed slightly and bent forward to whisper in his ear. "I think they like you the best." Mozenrath snarled at the remark but Chroias stepped in before her could say anything.  
  
"Well it would be the best place in town to get something to eat..." Chroias said hintingly.  
  
"And the most comfortable place to relax our feet.." Nefret smiled warmly and tinkered her fingers at the palace scouts who waved back and smiled dumbly. Mozenrath groaned and rubbed his temples again.  
  
Chapter 154 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath tapped her forefinger on her chin. "This is taking it a bit far don't you think?" she asked Chroias and then looked down at her outfit. Chroias had chosen an out fit that made Mozenrath's feminine features all to apparent. And he was miserable about it. The top was a wild green color that held her breasts in a firm upright position and rode low on Mozenrath's shapely hips. It was also the same green color. Her thick black mane was brushed back into a high ponytail and had a rose pinned in it. Nefret was making the finishing touches with Mozenrath's eye makeup.  
  
Nefret didn't look to bad herself. A beautiful Egyptian robe, pure white in the sun and a royal blue belt made her curves sweet and supplely shone. The makeup on her face gave her features a touch of mischievous innocence.  
  
Chroias...who had yet to get ready, still looked fine as wine in her Galifeme outfit as she helped Mozenrath off the table. "Say Nef, will you go and find that crimson outfit of mine, you know the one with the low back line and cleavage pump." Nefret scurried as quickly as she could in her robes as Chroias pulled Moze to the side.  
  
"Ok I'm not stupid and nether are you. I wanna take a peek at the Kings library as much as you do. But may I remind you of what happened the last time you put to much trust in a king." Chroias nodded to Nefret and Mozenrath blushed a light color.  
  
"I got careless with the Gryphon... admitted and noted. But please." he sashayed good naturedly around and made obvious with his hip. "With this disguise I'm invisible."  
  
Nefret laughed. "Not as invisible as you'd think." A whistle from a passing store owner and a hearty wink at Mozenrath almost made the sorcerer lose her temper. Chroias reined her back though.  
  
Nefret handed Chroias her dress. "Changing rooms are that way." she pointed and the two waited for her to finish. "Let me guess." Nefret said when Chroias was out of sight. "You two are dieing to get a look at the library right."  
  
Mozenrath shrugged. "Not that it's any of your business but yes we are."  
  
Nefret sighed, this was going to be a loooooong night.  
  
Chapter 155 (by me) The doors were pulled aside after Chroias produced the invitations. All three girls slowly walked in. It has been a long time since any of them had seen so many women in one place. And especially so many women that had such beauty to their name.  
  
Chroias smiled happily. "Well it seems it will be easy to blend in!"  
  
Though the room was crowded there defiantly did seem to be a line of woman heading to the throne in succession. Moze, Chroias, and Nefret slipped into it.  
  
"Poor, poor wretches." Nefret whispered looking around at the congregation. These poor women had all been shuffled here by their poor families hopping they could catch a small fortune selling their looks. Being an Egyptian Nefret had never really understood the concept of harems, at least not of this sort.  
  
"Chroias, Combi, and Nefret." A scout whispered to the king as the girls took their place at the throne and bowed. The king eyed Chroias and Nef, and let his eyes linger on Mozenrath. Moze, having been a woman only a few days still haven't gotten used to the appreciative looks he earned by men and was quite glad when they were allowed to join the rest of the party.  
  
"Ok, here's the plan." Mozenrath whispered to the girls as they sat on an arrangement of pillows. A waiter came past and offered the girls a plate of appetizers. Nef gladly accepted. "It will look funny if we both disappear at once, so I'll go first, and Chroias, you wait ten minuets then come after me. From there we'll figure out where the library is." She whispered lowly.  
  
"And when do I go?" Nefret asked popping a grape into her mouth.  
  
"YOU don't." Moze breathed harshly. Nef scowled and began to say something. No doubt something nasty. "Don't make a scene Nef." Mozenrath warned his minion. "Just enjoy the party, let US handle it." He ordered firmly.  
  
"Oh, yes mistress." Nefret shot back in a caustic hiss before walking off into the crowd.  
  
Mozenrath stood and casually sashayed out the garden gate door. No one seemed to notice or mind. Ten minuets and 3 chocolates later Chroias followed her lovers path into the lotus scented air of the garden.  
  
Nefret has stopped near the musician and was letting her hips swing to the beat of the music when the crowd parted around her and she felt a hand on the small of her back.  
  
"Hello little one." The king appeared at her side. Nefret froze. "Enjoying the party?" He inquired. Nefret nodded and tried to walk away but was stopped by the king's voice. "I'm glad. I always enjoy entertaining lovely ladies such as you and your friends. You dark haired friend is quite the flower. She seems different somehow, stand out in the crowd. Tell me are you all sisters? I'd hate to break up sisters. Where are your sisters little one?" The king rasped.  
  
"I am not sure my king. They often leave me alone." Nefret once again tried to make a get a-way but the king snaked an arm around waist.  
  
"Well, we shall go look for them. I'd like you three to sit with me." He pulled Nefret off as the other girls glared jealously at her.  
  
Chapter 156 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath was just about to disappear with Chroias into the palace as the King and Nefret rounded a corner. Mozenrath silently cursed his minion when the King walked directly over to her side and put her hand delicately in his own. "Charmed my lady." he said appreciatively and kissed her fingers. Mozenrath felt Chroias plant a firm look at Nefret and an even nastier one at the king. Still there was no way to risk a confrontation with the guards so she forced herself to accept the kings...gratitude.  
  
"Thank you my lord." Mozenrath managed and batted her eyelashes the same way Chroias frequently did. The king looked momentarily flustered and Mozenrath desperately worried if he'd taken it a step to far.  
  
The King motioned to the other two girls. "Perhaps you and your dear sisters would care to join me in the festivities?" he looked eagerly at Mozenrath and put his arm forward in a gentlemanly fashion.  
  
Mozenrath however did not accept. "We'll join you momentarily." Nefret told a disappointed monarch and then pulled both her "mistress" and friend to the side. "Ok so I'm guessing new plan."  
  
"Damn right new plan." Mozenrath murmured and crossed her arms. "Just who does he think he's kidding? I saw exactly where his eyes were and exactly where they were staring!!" She rearranged her skirts so that her legs were hidden a bit more comfortably.  
  
"Trust me Moze." Nefret interceded. "That is the LAST place our royal friend was looking."  
  
Mozenrath growled something uncomplimentary at her then hiked up her top slightly.  
  
Chroias growled and tapped her finger gently to one cheek. "Ok I think I have an idea." She glanced at a clearly miserable Moze. "But you are so not going to like it."  
  
"Please please please don't tell me you want me to do what I'm thinking you want me to do." Mozenrath begged.  
  
"Sorry lover. But the king is obviously more interested in you then he is in me or Nefret." Chroias pointed out. "And do you want the books or not?"  
  
Mozenrath moaned and put her head in her hands. "I hate you both." she said unconvincingly.  
  
Chapter 157 (by me) Chroias, Nef and Moze approached the throne and the chairs that had been provided for them. Moze hung back and "Chivalrously" offered the fist two seats to the other girls. Chroias rolled her eyes and gently but firmly sat Moze in the chair closest to the king.  
  
"I think you'll like the entertainment tonight." The king assured the girls as he placed his hand on Mozenrath's. Moze cleared her throat and drew her hand back, pretending she needed to fix the hem of her dress. The king looked slightly downtrodden, but smiled again as he took a plate of sweet bread and wine from a servant. With a flourish he presented them to Mozenrath. "For the most beautiful woman I have ever gazed upon" the king said with a little bow of his head. Moze took the plate and promptly handed it to Chroias.  
  
Dinner went on like that for some time. The king looking less than royal as he offered sweets and whispering complements as Moze blushed brightly but refused to respond. Nef saw the emotions that ran across the king's face at every indifferent shrug and cold shoulder Moze gave. It was truly a sad and pathetic sight.  
  
Finally as the king gave another hurt sigh Nef leaned into Chroias. "I've heard of hard to get, but this is ridiculous!" Nef whispered, it just wasn't low enough to get by Mozenrath. He glared at his minion but she was right. If he expected to make any headway he was going to have to give this poor slobbering fool some hope, even if it was false hope.  
  
Sighing with resignation Moze suddenly took one of the hot buns the king had offered early and bite into it smiling warmly. "This is good my king. I am hardly worthy of such attentions." Moze breezed in an overly famine voice, fluttering his thick lashes. The king smiled back. He was hardly paying attention as some of the female party goes showed off their talent in shows of agility, song, and dance.  
  
"Tell me my dear, do you sing?" The lord suddenly brightened.  
  
Moze seemed to panic a moment then his eyes fell on Nefret. He smiled knowing he had found a ways out. "Oh no. But my sister is quite talented. She will be glad to perform for you." Moze and the king smiled at Nef expectantly.  
  
Oh no he wasn't.. Moze wasn't going to try and get the spot light off him using her. "Oh, but sister, you know I never sing alone. We have quite a sister act between up my king." Nef patted Chroias's hand as she almost burst out laughing. Moze never sang in his life, not so anyone could hear anyways. And especially not in his new soprano voice.  
  
"Wonderful!!!!!!!" The king bellowed as Chroias and Nef dragged Moze to the stage.  
  
"I will kill you both." Moze hissed under his breath.  
  
"You'll do fine." Both Nef and Roias assured.  
  
Luckily the song was a common one and even Mozenrath know the words. All girls sung equal parts while adding a back up to each others voice. Even Moze had to admit to himself that is new voice sounded rather nice while raised in song. It even rivaled Nef's own trained tone, not to mention the angelic voice possessed by a certain demon. By the end they had all the male audience clapping and the girls scowling. All three joined arms and voices to sing the last chorus and dip lowly in a finishing bow.  
  
The king gave a standing aviation clapping furiously and grinning from ear to ear. "I need no more proof! I have chosen Combi and her sisters for my brides! The party is over!!!" He grinned despite the disappointed groans of the partygoers.  
  
Mozenrath suddenly became very fidgety until Chroias rested a hand on her shoulder. "Shhh, this could work."  
  
Chapter 158 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath became very very quiet as the king siddeled up to her. "My dear. I do not believe a more worthy woman could be found in all the seven deserts." Mozenrath tried her best to grin and bare it until she saw two familiar figures ascend the steps. "No!" he silently begged any god that might be listening. "Nonononononononono!"  
  
Aladdin and Jasmine, dress in their best palace finery, were walking up to congratulate the king on his choice. Jasmine was plump and obviously pregnant as she very carefully placed one foot in front of the other to get to the top. Aladdin turned away for a moment to assist his wife.  
  
Mozenrath turned desperately to Chroias. "Roi."  
  
"Don't worry Moze they won't recognize us."  
  
"No us." He/She pointed to Nefret. "HER!"  
  
"OH!" Chroias mumbled something and a very very faint glow of magic surrounded Nefret. Her face lost some of its color and her hair turned a bright blond. Her cheekbones became high and delicate, as her eyes grew wider. "There that ought to do it. The king won't notice, but the street rat and the princess will see the illusion." Nefret nodded and thanked heaven for having a demons abilities so very handy.  
  
Aladdin walked up to the throne and bowed ceremoniously to the king. "You majesty." he made way for Jasmines to bow. The King gently kissed her hand and motioned that Aladdin was to do the same for each of his prospective brides.  
  
Chapter 159 (by me) Aladdin smiled and took Chroias's hand first. The demon gave a dainty smile as the street rat placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. Turning on his heels in a princely manner he reached for Nefret's hand. Hesitantly she gave it to him and he pressed his lips to it. Chroias smirked and elbowed Nef who gave a don't-say-a-word face.  
  
"Honored to meet you." Aladdin addressed Mozenrath when she hesitated to let her hand be raised from her side. Moze seemed to panic as the hero pulled insistently at her hand.  
  
'Books, magic, power.' Moze chanted to himself as his hand when limp for the street rat to kiss. He cringed internally as he felt the light pressure on his knuckles. Then it was over and Al turned to the king.  
  
"Such pretty ladies. You are exceedingly fortunate." Aladdin offered.  
  
"As are you." Jasmine reminded her husband as she approached and gave him a playful punch in the arm.  
  
****  
  
After that Moze/Combi made it quite apparent she wished to retire before dinner. Both Chroias and Nefret gave a gasp as the chamber doors were opened for them. The room was beyond belief. A lofty bed that took up half a wall, flowers everywhere, a center fountain, entire corners of nothing but pillows. Everything was perfect.  
  
"Hey guys!!" Nef appeared from behind a screen with baskets of treats, oils, and assorted toiletries. "Harem life has its benefits." She jabbed as Mozenrath fell into a fainting chair.  
  
"I feel sick." She spat out and whipped her hand on a nearby throw pillow. "If you want we can leave you here." Moze jabbed back at Nefret.  
  
The girls face fell. "You've been testy ever since you were changed into a woman." Nef said a bit miffed as she sat on the bed mumbling something about pms.  
  
"No, he was always like this. Even in a new body he's still the same old Moze." Chroias plopped down beside her love and hugged him affectingly. Moze seemed to relax in his lover's arms as the demon whispered what exactly they'd be doing once he returned to his own self. Nefret soon caught on and rolled her eyes as she fell back onto the bed. Sure she was a priestess of the goddess of love, but there were something's she didn't need to know.  
  
"Ahem." Rang out a voice. Chroias and Moze shot a look to the door as Nefret flung up to see whom it was. In the door stood a very pregnant princess. "God evening girls." Jasmine said a little embarrassed. Everyone stared rather surprised at her. "Forgive me, I don't know your names. But I was hoping we could all go to the bath house for some pampering."  
  
Chapter 160 (by kalynn) Mozenrath gasped as hot water ran over her body. The sauna in the King's palace was huge and expensively decorated. "And also ,thank Allah, full of steam" Mozenrath thought as she tried to sink lower into the bath. It was true, the steam did provide an excellent shield. Not that to many people were in the tub. Her, Chroias, Nefret and Jasmine. Plus few miscellaneous others that had to be part of the King's harem.  
  
Mozenrath nearly screamed when Jasmine bumped into her and she immediately pushed away. Jasmine gave Chroias and Nefret, (whom she didn't know were Chroias and Nefret), a curious look. "Oh don't worry. She's just kinda on the shy side." Chroias explained.  
  
"Yeah, specially about her body." Nefret commented.  
  
"I don't see how she has ANYTHING to be ashamed of." Jasmine commented as Mozenrath rose quickly out of the pool and covered herself with a robe all in under ten seconds. "God knows I'm getting fatter every day." The princess laughed and patted her belly fondly.  
  
"How far along are you now?" Nefret managed to tangle the princess up in conversation as Chroias pulled herself out of the tub and walked over to Mozenrath.  
  
"Look I know your miserable but at least try to enjoy yourself." She placed a soft hand on Mozenrath's slim shoulder.  
  
"How can I enjoy myself when I'm surrounded by incompetence." Mozenrath said and then looked scathingly at Jasmine. Fortunately the princess was still talking to Nefret. Mozenrath reached for a hair band and tied her hair up behind her head. "I just want me old body back."  
  
"So do I." Chroias commented and tenderly patted Mozenrath's knee. "But.." she said suddenly. "While your stuck in this body.. you may as well take care of it properly." she rubbed the prickly hairs that had begun to grow on Mozenrath's legs.  
  
Mozenrath's eye's widened. "OH NO. I am not going to start shaving my legs."  
  
"Not just your legs. Your underarms and your ankles...and should you choose there are other areas that need to be handled properly." she gestured to the split in the robe which Mozenrath immediately covered.  
  
"No danmit!" he gestured to the tub. "Especially not in front of her."  
  
"Which her?" Chroias asked.  
  
"Both hers!!" Mozenrath turned to walk away.  
  
Jasmine walked out of the tub and Mozenrath discreetly turned and allowed the princess to dress and walk away before making it clear that she was going to leave. Just as she began to walk out, the doors opened and a proud looking King walked right into Mozenrath, sending her sprawling on the marble floor. Immediately Mozenrath checked to make sure her robe was closed in all areas and then looked up at the king. "Your......you majesty." she tried to do a half hearted bow from the floor.  
  
Chapter 161 (by me) "Hello my little desert bloom." The king offered a gentle hand to his soon to be wife. Mozenrath took it without thinking as her sovereign pulled her to her dainty feet. To her extreme terror he didn't let go. "Enjoying a bath are we?" He winked at Moze in way that was, to say the least, suggestive. Moze only sputtered out a quick yes and pretended to head back to the towel pile. Suddenly he felt a slight breeze and the hair on his neck, and other places, stood on end. He tuned around at the hearty laugh of he king as he dangled Mozenrath's robe belt from his taunting fingers. With a shrill shriek Moze literally dove into the water for cover. The king smiled and followed to waters edge as he prepared to get in himself. None of the other girls seemed phased by it. Obviously the king in the woman's bath was a frequent occurrence.  
  
Chroias started to panic just as much as her lover as the king disrobed. Looking around she noticed Nefret watching (half amused, half worried) at the other side of the tub near a dark corner of the bathhouse. Chroias's caught her friend's eye and pointed to the cavity. Nef somehow understood that vague suggestion and pulled herself out of the water not bothering with a towel. She returned into the light a slit second later holding several squirming furry bodies by the tail. With a smirk she dropped them into the water.  
  
Splash, slosh, than a scream, and another. "RAT!!!!!" A bather cried as the wet rodents desperately clung to hair and skin to pull themselves out the water. The first cry set of a chain of panic and soon a herd of girls were running as fast as their legs would move in the water to the tub stairs just as the king set foot on the first rung. He was quickly caught up in a storm of charging females.  
  
"Time to go lover." Chroias whispered to Moze as she pulled him out of the tub.  
  
"Uh huh." He agreed as they disappeared out the door, leaving Nef behind.  
  
*****  
  
"Have you noticed anything about those three girls?" Aladdin asked as fondly stroked her belly.  
  
"what do you mean?" Jasmine asked.  
  
"I don't know. It's just.. It's just that the tall one and the dark haired one.. their face seems familure. And I KNOW I've heard the blonde ones voice SOMEWHERE before!" Al sighed in thought.  
  
"Maybe. You can make sure at dinner tonight."  
  
Chapter 162 (by Kalynn) Chroias, Nefret and Mozenrath ducked into there room and took a breath. "That....was....close!" Nefret called out and collapsed onto the bed.  
  
"You have no idea." Chroias answered. "Actually I meant I wanted you to turn out the lights, but the rats were a good trick too." she giggled as she remembered the naked king running from the water.  
  
Mozenrath grumbled something and held her robe desperately shut. "I don't see what's so damn funny!!" she pushed Nefret to the side and sat down on the bed. "What if he'd have tried something?? What in the hell would you have done then??" he accused his lover.  
  
Chroias frowned. "Moze.. certainly you don't think I would have allowed him to lay a hand on you." she gave Mozenrath a light kiss on the cheek. "Besides I'm sure Nefret and myself could have kept him significantly occupied."  
  
Mozenrath's frown became dangerous. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that either!!"  
  
Nefret interceded. "Besides the point is that nothing DID happen." she gave Mozenrath a comforting pat. "If it's any conciliation, Jasmine didn't understand what you had to be ashamed of."  
  
Mozenrath blanched for a moment. "You mean she was looking at me?" he muttered with sudden understanding.  
  
Nefret nodded. "It's not uncommon. A woman can look at another woman's body with a certain admiration. Like I can constantly wonder how Chroias has managed to stay so thin."  
  
"Or I can wonder how Nefret keeps her face so smooth." Chroias commented.  
  
"It's common for one woman to see another for tequnique and such." Nefret shrugged. "All Jasmine ment by it was the fact that you DO have a wonderfull body and it is in exellent condition." The two girls giggled and Nefret pulled the back slightly of Mozenrath's robe to reveal her smooth sultry curves.  
  
Mozenrath humphed and turned away from the two. In his opinion it wasn't all that funny. "So what. Your saying I'm beautiful or something??" she growled and began to leave.  
  
Nefret sighed and walked over to Mozenrath. "Actually yes you are. Very beautiful in fact. I just can't see why you can't at least pretend to enjoy this while it lasts. How often does a man get to see into a woman's perspective."  
  
Mozenrath looked in a mirror for the first time since being in her female body. She had to admit, it WAS a nice body. Kind of sultry and seductive. 'Oh come on and admit it. If you saw a girl like this on the streets or in a club Chroias would have to worry' Mozenrath said to himself.  
  
Chapter 163 (by me) Combi and her two sisters were clustered together in the grand hall when Aladdin passed them on his way to the dinning room. He waved slightly at almost strangers. 'There's just something about those three.' Aladdin thought to himself as he cocked an eyebrow at them. The flaxen girl cocked one back before turning back to her sisters.  
  
Suddenly Al felt a strong pat on his back. "Checking out the ladies eh? Remember their mine!" The king gave a friendly warning as he led Aladdin to the dinning room.  
  
"Yes, I know, I wont over step my bounds!" The hero laughed.  
  
"They claim to be all sisters, but I find that hard to believe." The king mused. Al gave him a how-so look. "Their names. Combi, Chroias, and Nefret. Two are Greek, one is Egyptian."  
  
'Chroias? Nefret???? Than that leaves... naaaa, couldn't be... unless... no...but.. Nefret?... could it be a coincidence?' Suddenly Aladdin sprinted away from a very flabbergasted king.  
  
"So we eat dinner, and go back to our room. By night fall Roias and I will have the books and we're outa here." Moze was cut off as Chroias gave him a sharp elbow to the rib. The reason was soon apparent as Aladdin stepped in between the girls. Al didn't say a word, only stared hard into Nefret's face. He no long believed for a moment she was a blond Caucasian, and with that the spell lost it's power and the blond turned to dust and dissolved away as a light mahogany flooded back to the surface of her skin and her cheek bones lowered to reveal her femininely handsome face.  
  
"Hello there Nefret. Good to see you again." Al smiled rather ironically. Chroias's own superficial allusion was now null and void, however the spell that had changed Moze perforated into every cell of his body, it held. But even then Aladdin knew, he knew by the black hair, the almond eyes, the very expression on his face. "My my Mozenrath. I always thought you were a rather infeminit man, but I guess I took it to lightly.  
  
Moze growled and took a firm hold of the hero's shirt front. "If you as much as breath one word of this." if Nefret hadn't known better she would have said Mozenrath eyes flashed just as brilliantly as Chroias's.  
  
"Calm down, don't ruin that pretty face." Al taunted friendly. "I wasn't planning on blowing your. ahem. cover." Aladdin suddenly took notice of the lack of "cover" Moze really had on. "I'm have no real loyalty to that over stuffed king if you know what I mean." Moze slowly backed off but he was still highly embarrassed. "Well GIRLS, shall we head to dinner?" the hero's smile glinted as he offered his arm to the ladies.  
  
Chapter 164 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath was forced to gently take Aladdin's arm and was only to grateful to let go when Jasmine entered and took it. The three women huddled together to discuss what had happened.  
  
"I hate this." Mozenrath frowned and desperately tried to recover more of his body.  
  
"Well hate it all you like." Chroias kissed her lovers cheek gently. "I intend for us to be long gone by dawn and then you'll never have to see your boyfriend again." Mozenrath sputtered something that sounded vaguely to Nefret like "Strigori" and Chroias looked shocked and punched him none to lightly.  
  
Nefret came between the two. "Look the king is waiting for us and Al already promised no to blow you cover. I only wonder what will happen if Jasmine lets on that she was bathing in the same place as you." Nefret brushed back her plum hair and began to walk away.  
  
Chroias smiled. "Some times I have to admire that cool headed girl." She grabbed Mozenrath's arm and lead him to a chair, unfortunately one close to the King. Mozenrath nearly froze as the majesties hand landed on his upper thigh. "I was fascinated to see you in the bathing house my dear. Truly I didn't know you were so anal retentive." the way he emphasized the A word was enough to make Mozenrath feel sickened and Aladdin grin.  
  
He sucked it in though. "Thank you m'lord." she said in a pleasant voice and desperately tried to ignore Aladdin's stuffed giggles.  
  
Nefret herself was having difficulties and wondered. 'How is the rest of dinner going to go' Just then Aladdin whispered something to Jasmine and pointed to Mozenrath specifically. The smile on her face was short lived however as she apparently remembered the bathhouse. She however kept her mouth suddenly closed and look guardedly at an over flirtatios sorcerer.  
  
Aladdin didn't seem to notice and opened his mouth to speak to Mozenrath.  
  
Chapter 165 (by me) "Tell me lady Combi," Aladdin could barley talk as his lips reflexively pulled into an almost painful grin. "how you came to the aspiration to be part of the kings harem?" Aladdin's intent lay in making the sorcerer uncomfortable, but he was wondering what had brought him nemesis to this sorry, though attractive ends. Not that he would ever get a straight answer, or expected one.  
  
Mozenrath ran his tongue over his canine tooth in a fashion that told the two people who know him most that he was prepared to meet Aladdin blow for blow. "I know where I have it good." Mozenrath stated without fear of upsetting the king. Even the whimsical sovereign knew no woman sought a position among multiple wives for sheer love.  
  
"But you must be leaving many disappointed men in the wake. You have had other suitors, other lovers?" Aladdin was boarding on a very impolite and exceedingly dangerous subject.  
  
Mozenrath fended utter shock and embarrassment, well maybe the embarrassment was genuine. "Such a bold unguarded statement for a prince to make to a lady of morality! You soil the virgin ears of my youngest sister." Mozenrath pointed to Nefret. Chroias, and most of all Nefret had to put a great effort into keeping a straight face. Nefret's ears were well accustomed to such subjects, but it was Moze's intent to make Aladdin look bad to the king, possibly to foil any future doing the hero might have with him. "You speak as if your not royalty, as if you were..." Moze pretended to search for words than gave a warped grin "a filthy, thieving street rat." Moze thrust his pinched little nose in the air. Aladdin narrowed his eyes briefly than decided to strike Moze at his own "morality."  
  
"My apologies." Al waved in the general direction of Nefret but kept his eyes on Mozenrath. "You are very close sisters, you three. Very close.. Share the same room I'm guessing?" Al was quickly getting to the point that Moze was taking great advantage of the trust and sisterhood that was nearly instinctively exchanged between women. Moze lowered his eyes down his nose warning the hero that he was taking his life in his hands if he continued. Aladdin paid little heed. "Same bed? Same dressing room? Same bath?" The hero accidentally stumbled onto the open wound in jasmine's mind. The princess gave a small chocking sound and fidgeted in her seat. Aladdin's eyes rolled around the table to the faces of the girls. Something was up.  
  
Nefret gave a little hum of strange satisfaction, she knew this was coming; at least now the wait was over. She exchanged a look with the demoness at her side. Was it time to intervene or just let Moze get by on his own for once?  
  
Chapter 166 (by Kalynn) Aladdin nudged Jasmine gently and Mozenrath saw his opportunity to strike. "Really your majesty, " he laid it on thicker then syrup. "Of course we do. We are sisters after all. And the lovely princess Jasmine would have certainly done the same if she had a sister or two." Mozenrath let his voice drop slightly.  
  
Aladdin's eyebrow arched and he looked carefully at the sorcerer. "Really. Well fortunately she doesn't need sisters." He put his head to one side. What was the sorcerer getting at?  
  
Mozenrath's smile became devilish. "Jasmine darling, you really must give me the brand of shampoo you use, you hair came out so silky after bathing." he twirled a lock of hair around his own finger. "I just can't do a thing with mine."  
  
Jasmine blushed brightly. Aladdin blushed too, but for an altogether different reason. Before he could say anything however Jasmine laid a hand to his leg. "Really Combi dearest, it's only a simple strawberry mixture, I could whip it up for you in a second. You simply must allow me to design your wedding cloths. I could choose a magnificent PINK fabric that would just make you look so adorable."  
  
Chroias and Nefret both held back a giggle. Mozenrath gave the two of them a sneer and turned it into a smile when the king looked at her. Suddenly the King planted his lips to Mozenrath's.  
  
The air in the room froze.  
  
Just as suddenly the king pulled away and left Mozenrath with a very indescribable look on his face and a mixture of disgust and glee on everyone else's.  
  
Chapter 167 (by me) Chroias and Nefret's eyes rolled back and forth like ping-pong game watchers as they followed Mozenrath's frantic movements across their room. Moze alternated between biting his lip, wringing his hands, and rubbing his temples as the kings words rang though his head.  
  
"Dawn, We'll be married at dawn!" those words echoed through his head as he gulped. 'What if they couldn't get out. What if.. What if..' all the possible what if's ran through his mind in not so pleasant flashes.  
  
Chroias suddenly got sick (and dizzy) of watching her lover pace. "It's alright Mozey. We'll be outa here by midnight!" She waved the problem away with a sure hand. "And if we cant we'll just... BLAST out!" Her fangs glinted as she grinned.  
  
"NO, no." Moze continued pacing. "If I reveal my powers the king might know who I am. He might tell. soon it will be all over the seven deserts that the great sorcerer Mozenrath is a.a.. what the hell am I?!" Moze threw up his hands.  
  
"A cross dresser?" Nef suggested.  
  
"More like a cross bodier." Chroias contemplated.  
  
"I don't care!!!!!!" Moze roared and turned away from the girls  
  
"You better care soon. SOMEONE is heading to our room." Nef said from the door as Moze turned to face her, posing a silent, fearful, question. "SOMEONE who was to impatient to wait till the wedding night." Moze suddenly went into a four alarm panic.  
  
"Out the window!!!" Chroias grabbed Moze and pulled him to the window. Before she disappeared completely Chroias popped her head back in the room. "Nef, be a doll and confuse the kingy for me."  
  
Chapter 168 (by Kalynn) The king walked in at the exact moment Mozenrath and Chroias walked out. "Hello my dear." He gazed about the room uncertainly. "Where are your sisters?"  
  
Nefret searched desperately for an answer. "Ummmm. I think they went for another bath, maybe if you hurry you can see them there."  
  
The king laughed shortly. "I do believe I nearly terrified dear Combi when I made an appearance last time. Poor thing looked as though she might faint!" he laughed again.  
  
Nefret giggled at the memory. "Yes well my dear sister is naive in many ways." She caught Chroias wavering to her from the balcony, giving her a get him out of here sign. Nefret rolled her eyes toward the king to say it might take a moment. "You know your majesty, you might want to go gently on poor Combi. She's nervous around a strong, powerful man like you." Nefret slunk up to the king. "Any girl would be."  
  
The king put an arm around her. "Well, you and your sisters seem to be helping her a great deal."  
  
Nefret nodded. "Yes! Who knows where she would be without US to guild her!!"  
  
Nef was sure she heard a slight moan in the background. Apparently Mozenrath had gotten the point that he owed her for this. Nefret placed her hand gently to the king's chest. "You know your majesty, you are quite a handsome devil." She winked as Chroias began to lead Mozenrath around them. Just when Mozenrath and Chroias would have come into view, Nefret planted a kiss on the king's lips.  
  
Chapter 169 (by me) Mozenrath stopped dead in his tracks and made a small gagging sound, luckily the king was to 'occupied' to hear it. Chroias got over her initial shock and pulled Mozenrath out of the room. As soon as they were gone Nefret gracefully ended the kiss.  
  
"And here your sister claimed you to be innocent." The king grinned slyly. "I think she was wrong."  
  
"Oh, I think your right." Nefret toyed decidedly with his collar and gave her sexiest look. Inside however she was churning, wasn't this the second time she had seduced a king to save her master's butt? That last time hadn't even earned her a thank you and yet she was doing it again expecting even less than what she received the last time. She cursed her own generosity. "I don't see why you're so attracted to my sister." Nefret pouted a delicate, feminine pout that would make any man crumble to submission. "She may be the oldest, but she the most naive. Wouldn't you like someone you wouldn't have to." Nef toyed with a lock of his hair. "teach?"  
  
The king raised an eyebrow. "All right little one. You want my attention? You have it!" Nefret turned to the window to hide her smug face. Aladdin and Jasmine were taking a lovers stroll in the garden below. She couldn't have asked for better. "Then my lord I suggest we go for a walk!" This plan would leave enough time for those two to get those blasted books and with Al and Jas just a few rose bushes away she would be relatively safe from any strong attentions the king might lavish on her.  
  
Moze watched from a hallway window as his minion and the king entered the courtyard arm in arm. He grimiest, hoping Nef hadn't gotten herself in over her head on his account. Chroias gave her own grimace as she joined him at the window. "Come on Moze, time to get to the library." She reminded heading down the hall.  
  
Chapter 170 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath rounded the corner with Chroias and looked at the two guards standing the library entrance. "Great, how are we going to get past those two." He asked Chroias. The demones smiled and winked. "By doing what women do best." She twitched her hips from side to side and walked in front of the two. "Good day gentleman." She sung in a sensual voice and arched and eyebrow coyly.  
  
Immediately the two guards diverted their attentions. Mozenrath reached for a vase and knocked out one guard while Chroias snapped the others neck. Mozenrath frowned at the body on the floor. "Nefret won't like that." Chroias shrugged. "Well then there's no need to tell her." She grabbed Mozenrath's hand and led him into the library. "Oh boy."  
  
The two looked up at the immense bookshelves. The things went so high that a redwood wouldn't have topped them. "How are we going to find what were after in here?"  
  
Mozenrath laughed gently. "Please Chroias you don't really think that a king would keep books that powerful out in a public area do you?" While Chroias fumed at the insult, Mozenrath began to search for a trick lever of some sort. Chroias humped and began to search with him. "I hope Nefret can keep the king busy.  
  
Chapter 171 (by me) Moze made a low humming sound as he looked around the room. 'There has to be something.' He grinned at a statue of a modest woman wrapped in her wings. An odiously cheap piece of rock, not even comparable to the fine decor that flooded the proud kings domain. A pompous man such as he would never allow such a lowly piece of scrap to rest with the symbols of his wealth unless it served some higher purpose. "My my, what a lovely piece of salvage." Mozenrath returned to his old evil self even in his current predicament. Nothing got his juices going like being on the cusp of power! "Oh, and even a fracture marked neck." Moze gave Chroias a rather showy look as he punched his fist down atop the statures head. It lowered onto the shoulders as the statures wings spanned outwards disrobing herself and unveiling an elaborate combo lock engraved in her bear torso.  
  
Chroias appeared at his side and gave the tasteless statue an amused look. "Dirty old man."  
  
"That is exactly what I'm afraid of.." Mozenrath breathed looking anxiously to the direction of the garden.  
  
*****  
  
".. So I beat back the entire army with my bear hands!!" The kings shook his fist proudly into the night.  
  
"You are so brave, like a tiger!" Nefret scrunched her nose up cutely. She really hated to admit it, but she was actually having fun at this. She was never the seductress type, sure she might dress a bit skimpy, but that was only because her upbringing taught her that the body was nothing secret. In Egypt many woman would leave the front of their robes open. Such displays were not only for the attention of men, but simply because they could. Now Nefret was reaffirming the theory that she could have she could control someone thought means she thought little about, her body. And that power felt GOOD after all her years bearing the title servant.  
  
"Yes, I AM like a tiger little tenshi." The king smirked. Nefret was more mulling over the unfamiliar term than what the king was getting at. "Perhaps you can join me tonight."  
  
Nefret suddenly caught on. "OH!!!" she desperately sought her lost composures. "Of course, my lord. If you would." Nefret tilted her head to the side. "give me a moment to." Nefret bent a knee tilting her hips. "prepare myself."  
  
Aladdin, having sent Jasmine to bed to rest her overworked back, watched from behind a column. Something was up, either that or he had just gained a whole new perspective on Nefret. He stealthy fell in behind her as the girl headed back inside alone.  
  
*****  
  
Mozenrath cursed under his breath as he toyed with the combo lock. "What the hell are these symbols anyways? They look like chicken scratch!" he/she ran a hand over the calligraphy that was written above the familiar Arabic.  
  
"Looks like Japanese. Our king must have connections with the far east.." Chroias broke off as the door swung open, thankfully it was only Nefret. "Oh good Gods girl, I'm glad to see you made it back it back in one piece."  
  
"Well how sweet of you to worry about me tenshi." Nefret hugged Chroias and smiled at the new additions to her vocabulary.  
  
"Tenshi? Where did you hear that Nef?" Mozenrath suddenly looked up from the statue.  
  
Nef gave a shrug. "Something the king said, must be a sort of pet name."  
  
"It sounds Japanese." Chroias dropped the hint. Moze didn't need to hear it twice and within minuets the code was locked in and the door slid open slowly. Everyone looked anxiously into the dark dust filled room. Everyone including a certain hero in the doorway.  
  
Chapter 172 (by Kalynn) New as of 12-9-01 Aladdin watched them with anticipation. They were close to something he knew it. And the fact that they were being so secretive was worth him risking being caught.  
  
***  
  
Chroias tilted her head from side to side suddenly and sniffed the air. Mozenrath noticed her odd behavior. "Smell something darling?" he asked.  
  
Chroias nodded, "Something that smells a little like the streets and a little like a palace." Immediately Aladdin ducked into hiding and Mozenrath turned about.  
  
"I don't see anyone." He confessed. Even as Mozenrath said it he knew the street rat was watching them now. "Especially someone who promised he wouldn't interfere with my business this one damn time." and as a bonus Mozenrath couldn't resist tacking an ultimatum on top. "Not unless he'd like to find himself wearing a skirt and bra." he pointed out loudly.  
  
"All right I get the picture." Aladdin came out from his hiding place. "So are either of you going to tell me what's going on or am I jus stuck at wondering."  
  
Mozenrath opened her mouth to say it was really none of his buisness when Al grinned. "You know Moze you really do look ravishing in that tight red dress." Mozenrath blushed and crossed her arms over her revealed chest.  
  
Chapter 173 (by me) Both girls and the masquerading woman coughed back the dust as they entered. No one bothered to stop Aladdin a he entered also. The hero was in a generous mood, no one wanted to break him of it. Nefret lifted a lit torch to a shelf and scrunched her nose at what she found there. "I think we found the supply storage." Nefret indicated the jars of dragon toes, bats wings, various eyeballs, and a dead rat, which looked to have come to rest there naturally. "And I thought your lab was discussing." Nefret prodded Mozenrath.  
  
Chroias squinted in the darkness to read the titles. "Piro, earth forces, illusion spinning, Necromancy. My my quite a verity of subjects." The demon picked out a book and leafed through it.  
  
"Speaking of the dead, care to tell me what happened to the guard outside?" Nef inquired almost innocently.  
  
"Uh.. He's only sleeping." Chroias brushed it of as nothing to worry about.  
  
"Ahh, sleeping with his head backwards.. must be uncomfortable." Nefret suddenly turned back to a very fidgety hero. "Jasmine must be due very soon eh?"  
  
"A few weeks." Al was suddenly happy to have his mind on something pleasant.  
  
"May Hathor bless her." Nef smiled at her old temple habit.  
  
"And may Set take us if we don't get out of here by dawn!!!!" Mozenrath reminded as he desperately tried to stack as many books as he could carry.  
  
"Uh.. Moze... How long can magic last?" Aladdin suddenly cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"Why the hell do you care about REAL magic? YOU have you very own personal Genie manservant!" Moze gave a disgusted face at the boy's insolence.  
  
"Well it just." Aladdin motioned Nef to hold the torch to her master. In the spit of his skirt a not so famine leg peeped out. Before their eyes the soft curve of the calf became more angular and the knee shifted to a more prominent size as tiny hairs prickled to the surface.  
  
Chapter 174 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath felt a strangeness overcome his body. "What the." He looked down to see his masculine figure reopening itself. "Chroias, I think we have a problem." He suddenly chocked back his words as the spell continued to unweave from around himself.  
  
"Is this good or bad?" Aladdin asked Nefret quietly.  
  
"I'm not sure. Moze is desperate to change back and Chroias.. she wants him back. But this also means that if anyone catches us Moze will be in very deep trouble." Nefret looked at Chroias who seemed to be in conflicting emotions.  
  
"Moze just hold onto it." She said softly and the group watched as Mozenrath began to lose the soft curves and his natural body reappeared.  
  
"Oh yes." He said forgetting himself, "you have no idea how good it feels to be back as a man!!" He grasped Chroias and immediately bent her over in a loooooooong kiss. Chroias came up looking rather pleased but somehow trying to contain a giggle. "What..?" Mozenrath heard both Nefret and Aladdin burst out laughing. "What!?" he suddenly looked down at his returned male body, still wearing the dress  
  
Chapter 175 (by me) Mozenrath's mouth swung on it's hinges for a moment as if he had something brilliant on the tip of his tongue to say. Instead all he managed was his ever dignified "I fail to see what's so funny!"  
  
"I have to admit Moze, I'm glad you have you back, but this is a sight I'd die a million times over to have a permanent record of!" Nefret stifled her laughter long enough to pat her master on the shoulder. "This almost makes up for that kiss I had to endure on your behave. ALMOST."  
  
Chroias hung unto her loves arm thankful beyond belief that is was the same steady male arm she had so missed. "Well, welcome home." She whispered in his ear. Aladdin had to laugh at the slight blush on the sorcerers steely face.  
  
"I have some cloth's you can borrow Mozy." The hero offered.  
  
"I will nothing that touched YOUR body, street rat!" Moze snorted his disgust. "I have another idea, Chroias." Moze turned to his girl.  
  
****  
  
Half an hour later all three (Aladdin not wanting to actively help in the theft) had carried the brunt of the books to the supposed sanctity of their room.  
  
"Thanks sooo much for you help street rat!" Mozenrath tone was defiantly sarcastic. "But now we really must be going." Mozenrath smoothed the new cloths Chroias gave him. Not exactly like his old ensemble, but still nice.  
  
Nefret sighed, so it was back to the Citadel eh? Oh well, the vacation was nice while it lasted. She turned to Aladdin. "I hope Jasmine has a smooth delivery. Goodbye." Aladdin smiled and have her a one armed hug.  
  
Chroias had just about gotten the portal open when the door flew open. In the doorway stood the king in a short robe carrying a wine bottle. "Nefret dear were you coming..." He trailed of as he saw his two brides, his diplomatic guest and an apparently new (though strangely familiar) man in the room. "What the hell is going on in here!?"  
  
Chapter 176 (by kaylnn) Nefret didn't even see Mozenrath move. The gantlet flared and the king suddenly found himself tied to a chair. "What the devil is happening? Nefret where is you third sister what are you doing with MY books in your hands and."  
  
Mozenrath didn't allow the king to finish before he effectively shoved a gag in the majesties mouth. "Oh just shut up." His voice was just slightly feminine enough for the kings eye's to become wide.  
  
"MMAMmmmmfphumphump!" he shouted Apparently he had just managed to realize that his "lady love" wasn't quite a lady.  
  
"Oh Mozie I think he miss's you." Chroias teased gently and touched his cheek.  
  
Mozenrath glared at her but found himself facing a smiling demonic face. "All right I suppose I can't blame him." He grinned at Chroias. "I did make a devilishly beautiful lady didn't I."  
  
Chroias's smile disappeared. What was Mozenrath up to. He never got this happy about embarrassment. Especially if it was his.  
  
"Now." Mozenrath leaned over to the king. "I am sooooo incredibly sorry about the wedding but I guess you'll just have to be satisfied with the other 45 harem girls you own."  
  
A flare surrounded the three and they disappeared to the citadel throne room. Nefret yawned and stretched her arms. "Oh those damn damn adventures get me tiered every time." She started to walk off to the bedroom of her own. "I suppose you all will just have to manage without me for now." She disappeared down the hall and left Mozenrath and Chroias alone.  
  
"Well," Chroias remarked nervously. "I suppose I'd better get to bed."  
  
Mozenrath's grin turned almost as demonic as Chroias's. "Yes Chroias we'd had better get to bed hadn't we?" he wrapped his arm about her waist and Chroias gave a weary sigh. It was going to be a very very long night.  
  
Nefret was happily munching on an apple when Chroias came down the stairs. Nefret's jaw dropped as she saw the stat of her friend. Her hair was disheveled and tangled in a thousand places, she only wore a simple robe about her body and even that was being held together by her hands. Her seemed to be limping slightly and black rings under her eyes made it obvious that Mozenrath had kept her up most of the night.  
  
"So I take it that Moze is happy to have his manhood back." Nefret said and was rewarded with a nasty grimace and a deadly glare just as Mozenrath came down the stairs sporting a big smile. 


	10. Patron10

Patron 10  
  
Previously: Mozenrath's demon girlfriend Chroias has moved into the Citadel and she and Nefret have become best friends. Together they have had many adventures: Xerxes and Nefret were banished for treason though Nef was found innocent and brought back. Chroias bore Mozenrath's twin children, Tris and Zak. A failed assassination attempt on Mozenrath organized by Chroias's father Hades, in which Nefret's body was possessed and used by the demon mercenary Nemisis. Mozenrath's old master appears again, raised by the effret of the gauntlet to make his life hell. And Moze suffered the indigence of being turned into a woman and attracting the attentions of a king in order to retrieve Nefret after she was kidnapped by a sisterhood of warrior woman.  
  
Chapter 177 (by Nefret) The waters rippled as the image blurred and over focused a few times till the image came into crystal clear view. Mirage leaned on the lip of the cauldron. She smirked slightly at the picture. Mozenrath sat happily on his throne with Chroias perched on his lap as the demon tossed a ball around with Nefret. Anubis whined and stared anxiously at the unattainable toy at is passed between the air of Chroias and his mistress.  
  
It had been over a week since Mozenrath had been retuned to his male form and he finally "settled down" and gotten comfortable in his own skin again. Mozenrath chuckled as Anubis finally tackled Nefret taking her hard to the ground. Instinctively Chroias moved off her lover just a split second before the ball landed in Mozenrath's lap. Moze's eyes when wide as he realized what was about to happen, he only got a glance at the 65 pounds of dog that was barreling towards him before it landed in is lap.  
  
Mirage shook her head as her son attempted to capture his fleeing and laughing minion as her daughter in law laughed and egged the mock fight on. "Well well, it seems you've got your life all straighten out now. Fought your own demons, found love, and even your someone generous enough to put up with you." Mirage frowned. "And not a word to your mother, all I have done for you and you avoid me like the plague." She dipped a claw into the water distorting the picture. "There is now progress in such a comfortable, self sustaining environment. No growth, no invention. So much potential wasted on contentment.. Something should be done." Mirage stilled the waters as walked away cackling.  
  
Chapter 178 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath Watched as Nefret chased Anubis down the hall , he'd grabbed ahold of the ball and was happily leading her on a chase again. Just as the two disappeared out of sight Mozenrath grabbed Chroias and pressed her to the wall. His lips planted to hers as the wound their arms about each other. He'd been like this ever since changing back into a man a week ago. His attentions had become much more aggressive when it came to romance and (though quality hadn't changed) the quantity seemed in much higher demands. Chroias took a moment to breath as Mozenrath pulled away having left her lips a blushed red from the pressure.  
  
"Moze!" she exclaimed. "Nefret's going to be back any minute!" she giggled gently.  
  
"She's seen us kiss before." he persuaded and brought his lips to hers again.  
  
"Yes but never so much before." Chroias pressed him gentle away. "Moze I KNOW your happy to be a man again, but why do you feel as though you're now having to prove it every night?" she kissed his cheek gently and gave him an impish growl. "It's not as though you've lost any technique."  
  
Moze grinned and was about to kiss her again when the pain started up again. "Roi." he said suddenly and fell to the floor clutching the gauntlet.  
  
"Oh shit!" Chroias knelt beside him and removed the glove. "God it's been so long I'd hoped it had stopped. NEFRET!" she called down the halls. "It's happening again! Get warm towels and the bourbon." She said as Nefret appeared around the corner.  
  
Chapter 179 (by Nefret) The air of the room was dark and a stale feeling of melancholy hung on the edges of each breath the occupants drew. It was unbelievably hard for Chroias to watch her lover in pain. She wished she could rip all the attacking aches from his pain-wrecked body, but they weren't something tangible, nothing she could grab a hold of. God that was the hardest part. Nefret remained silent and slightly sour. Of course it hurt her to see her friend, the man who had become the equivalent of her big brother, in this state. But most of all she hated what the painkilling methods did to him.  
  
Mozenrath had drunk himself into near oblivion. The pain was still as piercing as ever but the lazy warm sensation running in his veins overweighed the pain. He barley noticed as Nefret wrapped his bony fingers in a mixture of opium and lanoline. "You know what the best painkiller is?" Mozenrath rolled his head lazily to Chroias hovering at his side. "A nice, passionate.. Ahh." Mozenrath cut off as Nefret kept him from saying something that would embarrass him later by bending his hand a bit to hard. The sorcerer pulled away so fast it nearly knocked Nefret off balance. "Allah damn you!!" Mozenrath yelled slightly slurred, but even in his drunken state he immediately regretted it when he saw Chroias turn away and Nefret's nostrils flare (the only sign of emotion she would allow). This got him all the more irate, but at a new target. "DAMN MY HAND, DAMN THE GAUNTELT!!!! DAMN THIS CURE ON MY HEAD THAT WONT ALOW ME THE SLIGHTEST MOMENT OF PEACE!!! HOW MUCH LONGER WILL I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS!!!!" Mozenrath's voice could be heard everywhere in the Citadel and no doubt all over the seven deserts. His fleshed fingers grasped lightly for the sharks tooth. "This pain could have been gone a long time ago. It could have all been over." He looked to Nefret still fingering the necklace. "I don't know if you've blessed me or cursed me." This was why Nefret hated this method of pain treatment, this cover of alcohol. It always shattered Mozenrath's cool exterior and brought long suppressed emotion exploding to the surface. It was at this time when Nefret saw Mozenrath wasn't the jaded incarnation of voracity she had always taken him as, he was in fact human. That realization always knocked her off balance. Mozenrath sighed. "You meant well my little minion, but" He grasp the shark tooth harder and pulled slightly. "Maybe I should return your gift."  
  
Chroias realizing what he was talking about flew into action. Pulling is hand into her possession with demonic strength she dragged him into her arms in a death grip with her head on his shoulder. Shaking slightly she murmured "no" over and over again until Mozenrath seemed to come to his senses.  
  
"Roi?" He breathed, struggling with what to say next.  
  
Chroias took the burned off him. "It was a blessing, a true blessing. You may not see it now, but you will. Oh in time it will all be clear. You'll see, WE'LL see."  
  
Nefret's' mind flashed in recognition of what she was talking about. That Moze would someday, hundreds of years from now, change his ways. His only hope of passage into heaven. Quietly she left the room.  
  
*********  
  
Chroias smiled slightly as she tucked a sleeping Mozenrath into bed. She picked up the lamp, darkening the room as she left. She hadn't seen Nefret since the drama a few hours ago, but it didn't take long to find her. Nef looked up from her plate of honey dipped apples as a sudden lamplight flooded the pantry. Chroias smiled as she joined Nef. "I hate it when he's like that.." Nefret said simply.  
  
"He didn't mean anything he said, it was just the bourbon talking." Chroias placed a hand on Nefret's shoulder. "In your religion you believe in destiny don't you? A set plan?"  
  
"Yes, the 7 Hathors always set a course for a child, but it can be changed, you can change it if you try hard." Nefret dipped her head to the side wondering where this was leading.  
  
"Like the trade routes, different paths, forks in the road, turns you must chose to take or avoid, but it all leads to the same place. All those choices on the path you take mean something, provide something, change you." The demon mused.  
  
"I wonder what the next twist in the road will mean, more importantly what it will be..." Nefret snapped out of her somber mood as she popped the last apple slice into her mouth. "Well one thing's for certain, Moze is going to have quite a hang over when he wakes up!"  
  
Chapter 180 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath fiddled with the sharks tooth around his neck. "Nefret I'm sorry." he whispered silently knowing he would never have the guts to say it to her face. Just like he would never admit how that damn minion now meant as much to him as Chroias did, though not in the same fashion. Most men dreamed of having friends and lovers like Nefret and Chroias, and he had them. A dear friend who was patient, if harsh at needed times. And a lover who was willing to wait for time to heal his wounds. "But when will that time come?" he questioned himself. "How long will it be before I heal, not only my hand but my soul?"  
  
Of course answers like this never came easy. Otherwise they wouldn't be worth answering. But the fact was, Mozenrath was for the first time admitting that he had a problem, not because of the glove, or because of his mother. None of that was really to blame. He supposed most, men would already be in hell for some of the crimes he committed, but really, when it came down to the last of it, all he was really guilty of was bad judgment and bad timing.  
  
******  
  
Mirage smiled as she watched her son sobering up slightly. "Well well." she hissed and drew up her magic. "It would appear that the time to release my little gift is here." a cruel laughter filled the halls as Mirage flung her magic down towards the citadel.  
  
******  
  
Chroias and Nefret were in their bedrooms and Mozenrath was in his Throne room brooding when everything began to change colors. First, bright neon flashed, then darker more surreal lights. Then blackness.  
  
Chapter 181 (by Nefret) Mozenrath cry turned to a hiss as he felt a strong power rush through him. It felt as his body had been flung from its seat faster than humanly possibility, his innards shifting towards his spin. Things came to a dead stop as his world rebound with a bang. The sorcerer's head was reeling, but when he finally came to he found to his surprise that he wasn't on the floor at all, in fact he hadn't moved from his spot on his throne, or rather a throne. It just wasn't quite his, to cushion. He backed his hand down the armrest to reveal the crushed blue velvet. The whole room was different, new décor of the strangest characteristics and design he had ever seen, defiantly not from any where in his world  
  
"Oh Allah, am I that drunk?" Mozenrath rubbed his temples and scrunched his eyes hoping when he opened them again every thing would be it's familiar dark self. It wasn't. "This isn't mine.. not mine." He stammered scanning over the room.  
  
**** Chroias moaned as she regained her bearings after being so rudely pulled from sleep. "What the hell was that?" The demon asked as she felt the tingle of the rendments of a strong spell leaving her. She reached for the oil lamp by the bed hoping it was warm enough to spark again. Instead she brought back a strange piece of pottery, in the dark she let her slim fingers roll around it and felt an odd protrusion. Feeling it give slightly she punched it and growled as a bright light close to her face blazed to life. Falling back she tossed the wicked thing to an outcropping of pillows. Cursing she rubbed her eyes until her pupil's dilated to accustom the new light Chroias picked up the source of the glow and removed the top part, the flood of light dulled to a single bright spot shining on the immediate wall. She had never seen such magic, a globe of glass glowing a yellow light, she had seen illumination spells before, but not contained in such a form and not ones that breathed to life without a spell being cast. Not fearing the magic she grasped the globe and screamed as the searing pain roared though her nerve ending.  
  
****  
  
Nefret groaned as she rolled out of bed half sick. She couldn't remember much of what had had woken up, only the memory of laying in blissful half slumber, that is until her stomach jumped into her throat threatening to escape her body. She sat on hands and knees on the floor panting. She had never felt anything that strong, that utterly cutting before. She raised an arm to the closest solid table to pull herself up, instead she grabbed some sort of table runner. Everything crashed to the floor, including her. Nefret cursed as she again rose up and cleared the surrounding area with her hands. Her fingers brushed something unfamiliar, a box of sort with round fixtures and dials. Temporarily curious she flicked one with a fingernail. A scream ripped itself from her throat in sheer surprise as voices filled the room. Strange voices singing the most unearthly song she had every heard. The noise was slightly attractive, but Nef was to busy trying to find something to whack the demon box with.  
  
****  
  
Mozenrath heard Chroias and Nef scream within a few seconds of each other. Not even thinking of the strange things in his domain anymore he raced though the halls not knowing whom to go to first. The fist door he came to Mozenrath crashed through and grabbed it's occupant only to drag them along not even stopping long enough to let the girl get her feet on the ground. Nefret sputtered slightly as she was pulled away from the attacking voices under Mozenrath's arm. They burst through Chroias's door where Nefret was finally allowed to get up. The demoness was rubbing her hand and examine the room, it was full of glass boxes and tables supporting various objects. Her attention wasn't even waned when Mozenrath grabbed her hand to examine it. Nefret to had also taken a notice to the protected objects.  
  
"Hey!!! That's mine!" she pointed to a few pieces of jewelry. In fact most of the things under the glass were the most prices possessions of at least one of them. Angry the someone had been messing with her stuff Nef lifted the glass from her something that had caught her eye, her fathers dagger. Lights came on a whooping sound rung in their ears.  
  
"Who's there!!! I'll blow you sky high!!" Yelled a woman's voice from the hall.  
  
"Hee hee, sky high." Chorused a strangely familiar voice.  
  
"This is getting a bit to weird, we're outa here!" Moze growled out as he grasped for the girls and threw his cloak over them.  
  
Chroias and her lover faced back to the Citadel as the desert wind whipped around them. "The Citadel looks ancient! Half of it has been rebuilt!" Chroias observed. "What the hell is.."  
  
"Huh guys?" Nef caught the attention of the to as they turned to face what she was staring at. "Is it just me or has Agrabah been doing some major construction?" Everyone stared agape at the humongous city.  
  
Chapter 182 (by Kalynn) The buildings in front of them reached taller then the pyramids. They glowed silver in the morning light and seemed to be made from the metal its self. "Must be a temple of some sort." Mozenrath commented and shaded the glare from his eyes. "But I don't see how they could have gotten something like this built without my noticing." He backed away.  
  
Nefret gasped as she saw people walking out of the place. "By Hours look at their clothing." The cloth they wore appeared somehow aristocratic though not Arabic by any standard of the imagination. "What on Earth are they wearing?" The people had to thinking the same thing about her because the stares she and her friends were being given were amazing. In fact some of the men seemed to be making odd gestures at Nefretss hips and Chroias bust line.  
  
Just as they began to think about this a man wearing a blue outfit with a silver star on it came forward. "Look I don't know what you people think your doing on this side of the tracks but ain't it just a damn bit early for your pimp to be trying to make a deal?"  
  
Mozenrath started to come forward and say something but Nefret stopped him. "Excuse me sir, but were kinda new around here. Mind telling us whatss going on?"  
  
The man looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but shrugged. "This is Agrabah, biggest city in the New World Order." He shrugged to the large silver building. "That there's our palace. Got the best damn security system can be built by magic or man." He again gestured to the people in the suits. "Thems the congressionals. They help to make the laws about the city, then they relay 'em by the Sultan Kafiks. Sultan Kafis is the own descendent of Aladdin ya know! Good man him, hard but good."  
  
Mozenrath pushed forward. "What do you mean descendent?"  
  
"Well lets see,. .it's been about 1000 years since Aladdin and his queen died, but the boys blood line can be traced back all that ways." The man suddenly seemed a great deal more cheerful. "So may I ask where ya'll are from?" a his gaze traveled up and down Chroias. "And how in the hell did she get those thing surgically implanted?"  
  
Mozenrath stepped forward this time. "I happen to be from the land of the Black Sand."  
  
He didn't get out another word as the man pulled something black and shiny from his hip. "Hold it, you freeze right there and we won't have no problems!" he yelled pointing the thing at the trio. He pulled a black box from his other hip and began speaking into it. "Hey McGavner, we got sandblackies in the region. Yeah you heard me sandblackies. Look I don't know how they got over here just bring over back up okay!" He continued to point the thing at them. "All right you all get up against the wall hands behind your heads!"  
  
"What in the hell.." Chroias managed to get out before the thing went off over their heads. "Holy shit!!"  
  
Nefret grabbed both their hands and they began to head for the nearest alleyways. The man was following them now, but his sizeable gut kept him from following at to close a pace. Soon Nefret, Chroias, and Mozenrath had disappeared down into the ally.  
  
Mozenrath tossed back his head of hair. "Ok, now that I'm fully sobered up.. WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"LiKE I KNOW?" Nefret yelled back as Chroias clamped a hand over their mouths.  
  
"Shuuuuush! Who knows if he's still out there?" She began to warn as a voice joined in.  
  
"Na I doubt it. You guys gave old Klagahorn a good run for his doughnut munching ass."  
  
The three looked in surprise as a girl stepped flowered from the shadows. She was gangly, almost thin as Chroias and had dark blond hair, which hung in deadlocked heaps around her head. He clothing was almost as odd as what they had seen on the men coming from the building, but no where near as spiffy. She wore skintight, dark black pants and a blue tank top with Chinese gold markings about it. She wore gold beads in her hair and at least six earrings on each ear. Her eyes were an almost azure blue and stared out with good humor despite her appetence. "Hi, names Kal, Kal Osburn. The sorceress of the streets." A black cat hopped up on her shoulder. "This is Amshak, my familiar." The cat made a movement that was to close to a bow to be anything but a bow and then sat properly on her mistress's shoulder. "You guys have defiantly got to be new around here. Come on and I'll introduce you to the rest of the gang."  
  
Mozenrath looked up at the girl, she was attractive in a wild, almost insane kind of way. "Gang?" he murmured.  
  
The girl named Kal nodded. "Yeah, were the only bunch of sorcerers and sorceress's left in the "New World Order"" she sneered with degust at the name and motioned for them to follow her back in to the alleyways. "Wait till you guys met the rest of us. Mo, Brawnda, Laura, Neon, we got more, but Laura is kinda my right hand girl. We're the one's who helped to get the last one's together."  
  
"Last one's? What are the last one's?" Mozenrath asked as she continued to turn them down ally corners It got increasingly dingier as the continued down into the depths. People along the streets looked up at them with half dead eyes. Mozenrath recognized the look all to well. It was the look of people who no longer cared about life.  
  
"Where are you taking us?"  
  
"Well you all obviously aren't safe out here. Kalghorn pegged you all as sandblackies, the cops wont stop looking for you till they think your dead. And we don't turn no magic away, sandblackies or not." Kal lead them to a shabby looking building and pulled aside the door. "Comeon in and make yourselves at home. Welcome to the Refuge of Sorcery."  
  
Chapter 183 (by Nefret) Kal spotting her friend in the corner scribbling furiously on a scrap of paper and looking none to happy with the results. She was an average girl, no model, but she possesses a sweet kind of aura. Her light brown hair let off a rusty color under the light and was pulled straight back in a haphazard bun, tiny curls had worked free to frame her face and halo her bun. She had a pleasantly rounded face of pale skin flushed at cheeks, forehead, and chin. Her eyes, framed under perfectly shaped brows, were almost too big and green. Two silver rings hung on each earlobe and a black diamond nestled in the shell of her left ear. She wore faded jeans, tight except for the bottom flair to accommodate her heavy boots. A simple gray T-shirt was shaped to her body under a dark long pea coat left gapping at top and buttoned under the bust. Not one to be thin like Kal, she was a healthy girl boarding on thick. A heavy genie bottle shaped pendent hung nearly to her stomach. A dog of ebony, white, and brown color with a long nose and a thick mane-like ruff sat devotedly next to her.  
  
"Hey Laura, we got newbie!" Kal announced happily. The girl looked up as her dog started to raise a fuss and circle excitedly.  
  
"Hush Bonny." Laura smiled as she stood up with the help of a cane. She made her way over supporting her weight off her left leg.  
  
"Guys, this is my girl Laura, a Celtic witch." Kal introduced her.  
  
Laura gave a slight rueful laugh. "Yea earth magic. Doesn't do much good when the entire city is concrete!"  
  
Mozenrath nodded as he looked a round. "So this is a sanctuary for sorcerers huh?"  
  
Kal nodded. "Not only that, but all magic. We try to collect as much knowledge of the art as we can." She pointed to some bookshelves. "You might be interested to know we even smuggled some books out of the Land of The Black Sand. Mostly form an ancient sorcerer by the name of Mozenrath.  
  
"Yeah, powerful guy but a little," Laura spun her fingers around her temple and crossed her eyes. "If you know what I mean."  
  
Chroias caught Mozenrath before he could say anything. "We, being VERY new here, naturally have a few questions. Who is in power, why is the are "sandblackies" persecuted, and.."  
  
Kal cut her off. "Alright, but first we need to change your clothes to something more. uh. normal. You guys come with me, Laura you handle the plum head."  
  
***  
  
"I don't see what wrong with my cloths. Their perfectly fine." Nefret looked rather paranoid in the mirror. Why was everyone so flabbergasted by their clothing?  
  
"Oh yes, it's just fine. for a hooker." Laura added under her breath. "There must be something that catches your eye?" she motioned to the racks of clothes.  
  
Nefret smiled and turned around in the mirror. The outfit wasn't exactly what she was used to but it would do. Her jeans were faded and worn nearly paper thin in the knees and front thighs. An overly long cross pendent had been weaved through the belt loops and hit against her thigh as she walked. Her burgundy ribbed sweater cut off just at the end of her ribs was cut in a low V. A black leather jacket toped off the ensemble. Her eye makeup had been toned down, but not by much. The pure black line that usually extended way past her lash line had been reduced to a smoky, thick smudge on both lids giving her a mysterious smoldering look. Her purple hair had been tied back oh so loosely to get it off her face. "It's strange, but. somehow I like it!" She turned around and looked at her generous hips stuffed into the pants and quickly pulled the jacket over her butt. "Well, maybe not that. I wonder what in the world the other two are going to come out wearing."  
  
Chapter 184 (by Kalynn) Kal looked through out the wardrobe. "I think I got something that'll fit ya." She tossed out a black pair of baggy pants with holes in the jeans and black male tank top to Mozenrath. They were of simple material, not at all what the sorcerer was used to wearing. The she followed up with an odd kind of over shirt with a silver dragon on the side and multiple symbols decorating it. She handed him a necklace with a similar dragon glaring at everything with an emerald eye. "I think that should do you." She looked over Chroias. "Yer about my size." She rummaged into the back of the closet, "Think I got something." She removed something that looked just a bit to small. "Yeah I know what yer thinking, but it's good for the jobs we gotta do now." It was a green bodysuit she threw towards the demoness, followed by a split skirt of black and a vest of light goldish color that had a rip or two here and there.  
  
Mozenrath looked about for a changing room. Just then a few questions repapered in his mind. "What about that term you used to describe us. Sandblackies?"  
  
Kal's head went down slightly. "Look, let's just say that Agrabah, and the rest of the seven deserts ain't to happy with anything magical. And since the land of the Black Sand is the last place with magic in it anyone born with the gift is called a sandblackie." Kal pointed to a back room. "You can change in there, just don't touch anything. That happens to be Don's room and he's feisty with his things!" The black cat Amshak seemed to nod his head in agreement.  
  
Chroias turned to Kal as Mozenrath disappeared into the room. "You said Laura was Celtic magic??"  
  
"Yeah, and damn good at it to, once she gets going. Her disabilities keep her grounded mostly, but don't knock her. She can make the ground from under you eat you alive." Kal smiled and winked with those azure blue eyes. "I've seen her do it."  
  
Chroias nodded slowly. "But from the looks of it you all have to be pretty fast on you feet. How does she work about?"  
  
Kal nodded to the direction of the main rooms. "We managed to steal a wheel chair a couple of months back, fully automated puppy to, Don, he's our fire sorcerer, put a nice little spell on it that lifts it up so she can steer. Laura's trying to get back on her feet though. She doesn't use the damn thing unless she has to. Stubborn little brat."  
  
Chroias smiled and nodded. "I know someone just like that." She thought happily of Nefret.  
  
Mozenrath choose this moment to ! step forward from the room. He heard an approving whistle from both Chroias and the Kal girl. "All right all right." He growled but felt somehow pleased that he was still attractive even in these clothes.  
  
Kal's cat Amshak meowed and slashed the air slightly. "Amshak says he approves. He also says that you're too pale."  
  
Mozenrath kept his comments to himself only because these people were their only clue as to the goings on of this century. "So Laura is a Celtic Earth mage, this Don is a fire mage and you have others as well? What power do you posses?" Despite the circumstances, Mozenrath could not help himself and his curiosity.  
  
Kal gave a grin that bordered on insane. "I'm a storm mage." She raised her hands and a wind picked up about the room, not a strong one, but enough to make Mozenrath and Chroias lose their balance. The wind ripped around her dreadlocked hair and made the beads in it tickle against one another. She smiled at the impressed looks on their faces. "Like it!" she laughed. "I wouldn't have done it except for the fact that I'm mildly addicted to power rushes." She suddenly became serious. "Don't try to use your magic outside of this building and a few others though, our dear 'Sultan' has magic trackers up all over the damn city. You use so much as a spark of power and you'll lose yer head so fast it'll make yer nose bleed. Not to mention your neck!" she made a slashing motion across her neck for emphasis. "By the by, what are your names?"  
  
Chapter 185 (by Nefret) Just then Nef entered with Laura. "Strange weather we're having, eh Kal?" Laura smiled at Kal's smirk.  
  
Nefret took notice of everyone's clothing. She had to bit her bottom lip to keep form laughing at her master. Not that he looked bad, just. different, and extremely ironic considering his years of taunting Aladdin's billowing pants. All the while Chroias contemplated her friend's new look. Nef smiled and whipped into a few Charles angles like poses.  
  
"Alright danger girl." Kal shook her head amused "I'd a question in the air." She looked expectantly at the three.  
  
Mozenrath cleared his throat, there was no use hiding it now, these were his sort of people, people who understood magic and feared none of what it could do, even send the ancient through the barrier of time. Slipping through the barrier of time, that's the only explanation he could find. Aladdin's generations had lived and died and produced in a heartbeat, the city and its government had changed from light to dark nearly over night. Over night to THEM, the others had obviously been in this spot for a long time.. "I am Mozenrath, this is my wife Chroias Diabloa, and my assistant Nefret Anuxanamoon." Mozenrath was prepared for the looks he got from the two girls, hell he half enjoyed them, at least his was a recognizable name even in this new system and time.  
  
"Nonono, those are the names of..." Kal suddenly looked at the pile of clothing the newbies had left off in favor of their new wardrobe. The lack of knowledge of any of the most basic truths of their time. could it be? "Ya are aren't ya?" She breathed. The gang nodded.  
  
"Than that's why you disappeared 1000 years ago?" Laura questioned. The gang looked at her wonderingly. Disappeared? Understanding Kal and Laura lead them to the library and pulled down a book labeled "lost ones record."  
  
"1000 years ago, after last being see in Abydos in the king's court where they committed theft, the sorcerer Mozenrath, his wife, and Egyptian slave disappeared leaving no trace of their presence and were never seen again. Their disappearance freed up the Agrabanian royal family at the time to come to greater power. And left the Land of the Black Sand venerable to usurpers." Kal read.  
  
"No." Mozenrath breathed suddenly realizing the full extent the spell had on everyone. It wasn't just him and the girls who had been put on the spot. This spell cast by evil that the fates had not taken into account had changed the path history had taken. Such a small absence affected one thing to another until the whole of the world had changed. "In this bend in history we vanished that night I had my hand troubles. It was only last night for us, but a 1000 years for them. Without us Aladdin was able to come to great powerful, Agraba prospered. And he passed his strength to his linage until."  
  
"Until the New World Order. When the Sultan, descendent of Aladdin, could control everything, outlaw anything that threatened him. Even the very thing that helped and held back Aladdin for so long, magic." Laura sighed.  
  
"And if this had never happened, if we had stayed and lived out our lives as fate intended?" Nefret posed.  
  
"If we had lived that fate, Allah only knowing what that was supposed to be, everything you see now could be radically different, even better." Mozenrath confirmed.  
  
"Dear gods, who know our existence was that important?" Chroias breathed.  
  
"I for one wanted to live that fate, who might knows what could have happened to me, what I could have done. what I could have been." Nefret shook her head at the loss of her future, or her past, whatever it could be called now it was gone. It was so overwhelming, the sheer loss of her entire life, her place, her position, being thrown into the land and time where she didn't belong where she had no past, no future and no hope. It hit the young girl so hard even her wall of sarcasm, tough as nails attitude and her multiple defenses against external emotion couldn't save her from telltale glassiness in her eyes.  
  
"No Nef, no we will live as we were intended, we WILL! I'm going to get us all back were we belong, where we're SUPPOSED to be!" he assured her before she could plunge deeper into despair. He feared seeing her emotion almost as much as she feared showing it.  
  
Chroias knew if Nef was actually allowing emotion to show her feelings were so strong that even she, second only to Mozenrath at keeping her true feelings out of the public eye, couldn't hush them. She folded an arm around her friends newly leather clad shoulder and one around Mozenrath's waist. "Hell and bell right! And when we get back we're going to chew who did this a new one!"  
  
A sudden question popped into Mozenrath's mind. "You said when we disappeared it left the Land of the Black Sand venerable to usurpers. Who sits at my throne now?"  
  
Chapter 186 (by Kalynn) Kal laughed. "You won't believe me".. she hesitated until Laura gave her a slap upside the head.  
  
"Quit the dramatics tension shit!" she said. "You were never very good at it anyhow."  
  
Kaly grumbled momentarily but subsided. "Her name is Chinadas. She was born in Louisiana and somehow made her way here. Nobody knows quite where she got her powers from much less what exactly her powers are. Nobody's stupid enough to get close."  
  
"But we do know she's a tyrant." Laura gave Mozenrath a slightly judgmental look. "Worse then you. Somehow or another there are people in the land of the Black Sands. Sorcerers like us but she's perverted them somehow. They no longer realize the hurt they can do to the world."  
  
"And our dear Sultan, having no examples but them to see of magic, outlawed it all. Even Genies decedents have run from here. Those who might have been useful." Kal shook her head. "The damn fool hasn't the sense for a ruler. Even you know the cost of a bad decision and have the capacities to realize when something's gone to far!" Amshak and Bonny nodded and Bonny growled something in a disapproving tone.  
  
"Damn right." Laura agreed. "We don't quite believe that they kid is a s stupid as he is currently acting. Simple mislead."  
  
"If he were willing to listen we'd even agree to assist Chinadas downfall." Kal spoke up. "But we can't get him to listen. Thanks to him even the sanctuary is in danger. A decent magical being can't even walk the streets in daylight without fear of being found be the ristamk."  
  
Mozenrath heard the oddly accented word. "What are the ristamak?"  
  
Laura smiled. "I'm quite sure you'll find out soon enough. We'll being going to the Cabaret tonight after sunset and you can meet a few of the others like us in the area."  
  
Nefret perked up at the French word. "Cabaret? Like a bar or club."  
  
"It's a magical hang out. No others allowed. Any simple mortals who enter are killed." Kal looked pointedly at Nefret. "But don't worry about that part, I can give you lone of a few nifty little doodad's to hide the aura around you."  
  
"Don't say it like that. You make it sound like a stink!" Nefret stuck her tongue out at Kal and way rewarded with a laugh.  
  
"Ok NOW I like her!" Kal smiled and nodded at Nefret with respect.  
  
Laura stopped at the closing of a door. "That must be Don. You'll like him, he's got grace under pressure. but try not to be to shocked at his appearance."  
  
Kal stopped them before they could exit the room. "I might make a suggestion to the three of you." She looked at Chroias directly in the eyes. "Chianada is not a woman you want to mess with. She not only has all the old style trappings you set up but a thousand years worth of technology inside that Citadel. Technology you guys have no clue about. I won't try to stop you, but I will suggest that you take a few days to learn about our world and the things in it. Don and I are planning to make a weapons run later this week. One of you should come along to see exactly how we battle the ristamak when our magic cannot be used." She lifted a denim jacket off a coat rack and under it was a vest looking thing holding the same kind of odd instrument that the Kleghorn fellow had shaken at them. "First lesson in weaponry of a more modern variety. This is a Colt Anaconda. A simple gun, but easily hidden in it's holster and quick draws easily." She shoved the thing in its holster and nodded to Laura as her cat hopped up on her shoulder. "She prefers a Walter PPK. Seen to many James Bond flicks." She winked then realized these people had no clue as to what she was talking about. "Just cock it." She pulled casein out from her pocked. "Load it." She slapped the casein into the bottom of the gun. "And I'll teach you how to fire later."  
  
Laura motioned to the door. "Come on its time you met the local fire mage."  
  
Chapter 187 (by Nefret) Kal and Laura both smiled at Don he smiled back and craned his neck to see who was behind them. The news of new magic had spread fast, and they guessed their former strange appearance had raised as few eyebrows and whispers.  
  
The gang had to suppress their surprised reaction to Don's appearance. They had been warned, but they had taken it a different way. His arm was covered in ridden and bunched scars forming weird patterns up his fingers and snaking up his exposed arm to disappear under his shirt, no doubt it covered his chest as well because a slight discoloration showed at the deepest part of his shirt neck. His face seemed untouched by the scars but his clothing hid the extent of his deformity. It was a telltale kind of mark, the kind left after fire ravened and eat away at skin. Had his own power turned on him?  
  
"'ello comrade!" Don greeted Mozenrath with a pat on the back that nearly threw the sorcerer off balance. 'People here sure didn't have any concept of respect of their betters!' Moze thought silently but didn't open his mouth. "Ah, and good evening to you to ladies!" Don grinned in such a way that made Moze grab for Chroias's hand possessively. "I see the rumors are true."  
  
"Yes, well we'll talk 'bout this on route." Kal complained.  
  
*** Nefret and Chroias entered the club laughing and shaking from their transport, never had they had such a ride. Something like a horse, but much more sleek and fast. The rumbles of what Kal and Laura had called a "motorcycle" still hummed from in their veins. Moze rubbed his rather numb butt as he looked around, it was like any smoke house he was familiar with, music, dancing, a rather hefty lack of clothing. Nef was nervous at first, but no one seemed to notice she was only a lowly mortal. The girls smiled, she was definity in the element.  
  
"Hey Nef just stay." Moze turned around to find her completely gone. He frowned, 'this is no good.'  
  
"Don't worry we covered her up so much no one will notice her aura." Kal pulled the gang to the bar.  
  
"This new world has so many wonders, things I couldn't even thing of, but it's still not right, it just feels bad here." Chroias shook her head. What had people done to the world, where magic was pushed to the very edge of society, were being blessed with the supernatural in your soul meant your death?  
  
Mozenrath nodded desperately tying to act cool after his shoot of vodka, 'what the hell did they put in that stuff?' "Well we're not the kind to go along with the current, if we don't like something, we change it. No matter what it costs." Mozenrath hissed. He wasn't about to let Aladdin and his brooding children mess up his world.  
  
"Especially since you'll find yourself in this time again." Laura mentioned. She pointed to the sharks took when Moze gave her an incredulous look. "It's the magical sand shark's tooth. That's why it was such a mystery when history found you missing. You were supposed to live 1000 years after natural life. No one could figure out why the tooth hadn't keep you in the public spot light for years and years to come." Kal nodded in agreement. "And the real mystery was why ya disappeared Chroias. You an immortal demon who was suppos to live till the end of time." She sighed. "When we get you back ta ya own time you'll live to see this year again. Hopefully the next time you set foot on it history will have taken a different path."  
  
Mozenrath hadn't really thought about living that long, sure he knew he lived off the sharks tooth, but he hadn't thought about living to see such wonders as this world contained. He would be a part of this would someday, he and Roais, that make it all the more important to change things. The only person that wouldn't be seeing this year again was Nefret. That was another thing the hadn't thought about, outliving her, to have her die hundreds of years before his own candles was snuffed out. It was funny how time and mortality could be so manipulated and the results it had. He sighed as he spotted his little minion limping slightly to them, she was smiling despite the obvious discomfort that was radiating somewhere around her lower back.  
  
"What have you done now?! Did you hurt yourself?" Mozenrath stood up to meet her as her turned her around. The back hip of her already low jeans were shifted down just an inch to make room form a patch of white bandages. "How the hell did you get a injury here." he stopped as he pulled the bandage off her hip. The skin was red around black marks showing just under her skin. The pattern of familiar hieroglyphics were impressed on her skin, a stomach with throat, a horned snake and a mouth. The beginning of her name, a word that translated into beautiful.  
  
"Oh that's so cute!" all the girls screeched. Moze sat down and shook his head. Don nodded approvingly.  
  
Nefret replaced the bandages and sat down carefully. "I hope it's cute, cause it hurt like hell! Do think it'll be there when we get back to our time?"  
  
"Who knows, I didn't even think time could be bent like this. I don't know if anything from this time can exist in our own." Chroias handed Nef a drink  
  
****  
  
"...And that's what a telephone is!" Laura finished her expination.  
  
"Wait just wait till we show you a computer!" Kal added.  
  
"I want to know how to drive that motercyle thing!" Chroias grinned danageroulsy.  
  
"I think the most practial thing would be to teach you how to fire a gun!" Don mumbled.  
  
"What a good choice.. Unfortunately for you I don't need lessons." Came a gravelly voice. Everyone looked up to see a young punk pointing a gun at them. "Give me all you got or I'll SHOW you how this works!"  
  
Chapter 188 (by Kalynn) Don's instincts were immediate and his hand snapped forward grabbing the attackers and snapping it roughly to the side. The man screamed in pain and dodged back. Kal whistled her approval as Laura clapped automatically. "Very nice very nice!"  
  
Don bowed as the lady's applauded. "Many thanks seniorias." He winked at Chroias and bowed congenially to her.  
  
Mozenrath growled. "I could have done that." He muttered and took Chroias's arm possessively.  
  
Nefret immediately got between the two. "Look it was a nice gesture." She assured the man named Don and barely kept the two from coming to words.  
  
Laura must have senses it as well. "All right you guys break it up, the last this we need is to get into a tangle at this point in time."  
  
Kal nodded. "Besides, I know who that guy was, and he'll be back with pals and most likely."  
  
"All right sandblackies!!" a loud and course voice shouted. "We don't like no sorcerer's on our turf." He noted Laura's leg. "And especially no lame ones at that."  
  
Laura's hands gestured slightly and the ground under them trembled. "We aren't causing any harm." She professed as Kal fingered her gun and Don rubbed his hand down by his side. "Let us pass and we won't be inclined to hurt you." She made the ground split under her feet just to show she meant business.  
  
"We don't think so." A voice shouted from behind them. Mozenrath turned a to see a redhead walking towards them. "This is street turf, we ain't got room to be letting no sorcerer ass's go." His gun was already out of its holster and pointed at Mozenrath.  
  
Mozenrath took a long look at the weapon. From what he had seen this thing could do major damage, and after the warning from Kal he wasn't inclined to do any magic. He backed away slightly and looked over at Kal as she slid a weapon identical to her own in his hand without being noticed. A further look noted that Don was handing one over to Chroias and another being given to Nef.  
  
"No magic unless you gotta." Kal warned in a soft voice. "But if you gotta aim to kill."  
  
Mozenrath nodded and watched as Kal shot off once to get attention, (actually it was more done so Mozenrath and the others could at least see how the danm thing fired.) "Ok I've had a long as night and I ain't in da mood for no fight. Do us a favor street huggers and move on." She growled out in a tone that was almost equal to Mozenrath's when he was angry. Her slight rough accent also became gravely and harsh when she became mad.  
  
The gang members now seemed to note that everyone had a gun, unfortunately there were also more of them then there was of the sorcerer's and it looked like the gang was aware of the advantage.  
  
Don made his way silently over to Chroias. "Ever been in a street fight amigo?" he asked and Chroias shook his head. "Kill and worry about everything else later."  
  
Nefret seemed the only one of the newcomers well prepared to do her necessities. From what Laura could surmise, the Egyptian girl was better adapted to this situation then the others were.  
  
Chapter 189 (by Nefret) Don looked to Nefret as she slowly stretched her back and hips in ready. "What about you plum, you ever had it out in the streets?" he asked slightly aware she wasn't all that big compared to her other friends, her arms and stomach were soft and fleshy but her wild curls and small eyes did have their primal nature.  
  
"I once beat a roman soldier in the middle of the street." She stated mater of factly.  
  
"Yeah? What happened to 'em?" Don inquired as he cocked his gun and fixed a firm grip on the hilt.  
  
"He became my lover." Nefret smiled without looking over. Don had little time to question it as there was a sudden movement ahead of them.  
  
The redhead made a feral roar as he broke out into a run with a clear intent of butting Mozenrath. The sorcerer tried desperately to work the gun, the damn thing refused to do his bidding. A grunt rang out as both men hit the ground. Something hard smacked Mozenrath in the face vibrating his cheekbones in a painful smash. He groaned and placed his free hand on the attackers throat trying to either suffocate him or push him away. The other man grimaced and bared his teeth as his face reddened. With a growl he brought his gun up determined to place it on Mozenrath's temple. Moze pushed his palm up forcing man's chin skyward impairing his ability to see where his gun was aimed.  
  
Mozenrath wasn't the only one having problems. Both Don and Kal had taken refuge behind a dumpster exchanging the occasional round with the occupants of the neighboring dumpster. "Damn it, we have to get out from here!!!"  
  
Chroias growled fiercely as she flung her first attacker away just enough to plant a bullet in his chest. Another body fiercely hit her and from behind. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a muscular chest as something cold and round hit just above her ear with enough force to make a red crack in the pale skin there. Instinctively fearful of the cold object she flung her head back smashing her skull against a forehead. Now, not to say she was thick headed, but as a demon most of her physique was stronger than a humans, including her bones. The man wobbled a bit as his intended victim spun around. Now maybe he had a concussion, but for years to come he would swear she had red glowing eyes and canine teeth longer and sharper than any vampire that filled the pages of old horror books. With a wild growl she rammed the man taking him clear off his feet and slamming him into a nearby dumpster. Not able to withstand the force the demon exerted on the heavy mental container the dumpster rolled away on squeaky wheels leaving it's refugees visible and venerable.  
  
Seizing the opportunity Don and Kal landed on their sides from opposite sides of their protective dumpster while the their assailants mystified over the sudden loss of their sanctuary. "Oh shi." one got out before the sound of gunfire rang from Kal's and Don's vicinity.  
  
Nefret, needles to say, was having problems of her own. One man had grabbed her wrist trying to force the gun out of her hand. She grimaced as she heard, or more likely felt, a slight burst and her upper arm suddenly was flooded with warmth and ache. He had burst a vein. Already under his unyielding fingers a bruise was forming. The gun dropped to the ground as the man wrenched her hand behind her and placed his head on her shoulder. She couldn't see, but she somehow knew he was grinning as another man began to walk up to them. When he got in reach Nef made a rumbling noise and spit thickly in his face. That took the grin right off the approaching mans face as he angrily pulled his powerful fist back. The swing was flung a split second before Nef doubled over allowing her assailant to hit his comrade squarely on the jaw. The struck man behind her fell over her lowered back and Nef shifted her balance to let him tumble onto the man in front. She reached for the gun and aimed for each mans head, she hesitated a bit in thought and with a quick flick of the wrist shot both men in the gut. Hey she was a priestess after all, she had to be semi clean of sin.  
  
With an angry cry Laura whizzed her cane towards the head of her attacker. With a fast movement and a chuckle her grabbed it and pulled it out of her hands. He than preceded to use it to smack the gun from her other hand. She stumbled, her hands searching desperately for a safe hold as she fell back to the alley wall slowly sliding down till her but hit the ground. The man chuckled as her flicked a gun up to aim at the forehead.  
  
"Sorry guys, I know you said no magic, but." She lowered both palms to the ground and dug her nails into what little dirt she found there and began a low chant. "Great Mother, bless this creature of Earth to your service. May I always remember the blessed Earth, its many forms and beings. I call upon the power of earth!" The earth trembled and contorted under their feet. Laura clapped her hands together hard and the ground slammed against itself hard creating an uprising mound between her attackers legs bringing him tumbling down. She then flung her arms apart smacking her palms on both sides of the wall. The earth just in front of her threw itself open smacking in a great wave on the walls of the narrow ally. The armed man fell screaming until he could no longer be seen. Laura sighed almost regretfully as she lowed her hands limply. "Darkness ended, control is done. Light has come. My battle's won." She whispered in a tired voice as the earth lazily closed again.  
  
The commotion and shaking had distracted Mozenrath assailant just long enough for Moze to wiggle his gun hand under the man's weight to nuzzle the gun barrel in his ribcage. That brought back the redheads attention as he renewed his struggle to aim the gun at Moze's head. Just as the barrel bumped the sorcerer's temple a shot rang out. Things were still for a moment as the rest of the gang, now free of their own assailants, looked up to stare for one breathless moment.  
  
"Damn you." The redheads breathed before he collapsed lifeless on Mozenrath's chest. Chroias let out her breath and ran to Mozenrath's side, just as her lover pushed the dead man off. She flung her arms around his neck in relief, relief for all of them. Nefret joined her a moment later dropping wearily to her knees at her masters side and rested her head on his shoulder, they had never been in anything quite like that, never with weapons that dangerous, they had all come close.  
  
Don pulled Laura up by the shoulder as Kal placed the cane back in her hands. "Sorry guys." Laura said solemnly indicated the crack in the cement. "I had noten left."  
  
"It's alright, we know." Kal assured her. "I was impressive anyhow." She smiled. "And I must admit I'm quite impressed with those three." She indicated the gang as they still sat together, leaning on one another for support, both of the physical and mental kind.  
  
Don nodded. "This was good practice. for what they will have to defeat."  
  
Chapter 190 (by Kalynn) Kal held out her hand to assist Mozenrath in getting up. "Not bad for an insane sorcerer." She grinned at him in an odd fashion.  
  
Mozenrath scoffed. "I was never insane." He professed even as Kal laughed at him.  
  
Just as the group began to stand a blaring siren shot through the alleyways and a blinding light focused on them. "ALL RIGHT!!" came the booming voice above. "ALL SANDBLACKIES GET DOWN. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE OR WE WILL FIRE!!!"  
  
Laura was the first to react. "RUN!"  
  
Everyone took off down the streets. The light following them every turn. Mozenrath turned just long enough to fire a gauntleted shot at the helicopter, suddenly the group was plunged into darkness. "Everybody split up!" Kal grabbed Mozenrath by the shirt and nodded to an off allyway. "We'll go this direction, Laura and Don will take care of the other two and they know where to meet us."  
  
Mozenrath could hear the angry roar of those things Kal and the others had called motorcycles catching up to them. "All right. I hope you know what you doing."  
  
Kal gave him an insane grin. "I always know what I'm doing."  
  
Just as they turned the next corner someone smacked Mozenrath clear to the ground. A blue glowing net was thrown over Kal as officer Kleghorn walked between the two.  
  
"You always know what your doing?" Mozenrath said sarcastically as two men dressed in blue put anti-magic cuffs on them.  
  
******  
  
Laura grabbed Nefret and hauled her off in one direction as Don took Chroias down a nasty looking alleyway. "Come one Kal will met us later in the club." She promised.  
  
"Yeah I know. I'm just worried about how those two are going to handle each other." Nef glanced back even as they kept running. "Is it just me or is there kind of a high level of .."  
  
"Competition? Yeah, Kal treats all newcomers like that until she can judge them and their abilities." Laura paused at an intersection and nodded to the right. "She's kinda shaddy about people she doesn't know and keeps them from asking to many questions at first."  
  
Nefret waited to ask her next question until they'd had an opportunity to stop. "Is Kal...insane?"  
  
Laura laughed gently. "Yes. But just cause she's insane doesn't mean she's stupid. She'll take chances that the rest of us aren't able to and get away with it simply because she's willing to do it." Laura leaned againt a wall. "Man I've gotta remember to start bringing my damn wheelchair to stuff like this." She clutched her her leg and Nefret bent over to see what she could do to help.  
  
****  
  
Don had his hand around Chroias's until he was satisfied that they were far enough away. "You all right?" he questioned.  
  
"Fine." she answered shortly. "Where are the others going to meet us?"  
  
Don jerked his thumb in direction of the club. "Probibly there. We've gotten separated before and the meting is usually the same. Midnight at the Cabaret. Don't be late and make sure you weren't followed." He checked his watch. "It's about ten thirty now. We should take some side tracks and make sure they haven't sent any ristamak after us." He gestured as Chroias followed. It was a long while before he spoke. "So you and Moze are attached right?" he asked.  
  
Chroias was quiet for a long moment. "Yes." She hesitated.  
  
"Oh it's cool."  
  
*******  
  
Kal spat at the ristamak as he locked her in the chains. "You little bastered. Mind telling me what you hope to gain from this?" she said in an almost deadly calm voice.  
  
The ristamak turned away from her and set the same anti-magic manacles on Mozenrath. "It matters not. You are to be used to extract information on the where abouts of other sandblackies." He said it with no emotion and Kal gave Mozenrath a guarded look.  
  
"In other words we're to be tortured." She again looked at Mozenrath.  
  
Mozenrath suddenly had the realization that she was trying to let him know what was coming. Trying to tell him that the next few hours of his life could end up being quite painful. He nodded to show that he got the message and glared silently at his captor.  
  
"Most likely, yes. But it will not be my job." He turned and walked from the area.  
  
Chapter 191 (by Nefret) Kal snorted as she was shoved into a metal room. She curled her lip up and shifted the weight of the yolk like restraint around her shoulders. Mozenrath remained deadly silent. The door slammed behind them, they'd only be left alone a precious little time so Kal decided to use every bit of it on Mozenrath.  
  
She spun around with a half warning look in her eye, it seemed if her hands were not bound she'd take him by the shirt front just to emphasis her point. "I know you don't know us very well, any of us. We must mean little to nothing to you. But they are my friends if and you breath a word about them, even their names you'll be sorry. When you feel the surge of pain in you body and wonder why your going through this for people you care nothing for just remember the two people who DO mean something to you with them, and are just as sought after. Say NOTHING." Kal hissed.  
  
Mozenrath regarded her coldly. "Don't you think I know Chroias and Nefret are protected by my silence to? You need not waste your breath with warnings." He said monotone just before the door opened.  
  
"I am supervisor Nox." A huskily built man introduced himself as he entered the room. He motioned behind him to a grisly old man in a lab coat. "This is dr.. Well you don't need to now his name. I'll be asking the questions. HE'LL get you to answer them!" He smiled as the "dr." rolled in a tray of wicked looking devises. Nox clapped his hands and rubbed them together as Kal and Moze were forced into seats and locked down. "Shall we get started?" He took out a folder and opened it, thumbing the glossy papers inside. "The fire mage," He set out a picture of Don that seemed to have been taken by a surveillance camera outside a store. "The crippled Celtic witch." He plopped down a picture of Laura taken slightly from the back as she walked down an alleyway on her cane. "And the new ones we saw from the helicopter. The purpled haired Arab girl." Nox threw a helicam photo at Kal hitting her in the chest. "And the pale tall girl." He threw the last photo at Mozenrath and sat down. "Yes we know what they look like, what you ALL look like. But there are some gaps in our file on you all. You're going to be very nice and fill in those gaps for me." Nox demanded rather than implied. The Dr. was ready and willing to do his job as she took out a cattle prod and flipped it on. "I need name, age, power, background, weakness, and location on all of them." Nox took up a pencil and looked down at his paper fully expecting to have something to write.  
  
****  
  
Nefret helped Laura unto a low wall in a dark street. Nefret was anxious to know everyone was alright. But she would have to wait. The only thing to do now was sit with this girl she knew little about. Maybe it was time she changed that. There was one question gnawing at her.  
  
"Laura?" Nef got the girls attention away from her ministrations on her leg. "What happened to you?"  
  
Laura's face turned cold for a while as she turned back to her leg. God she had told the story so many times and each time it flashed painfully vivid in her mind. Finally after awhile the girls voice made a reappearance. "I was strong and healthy once. Fast and loose with my power too. Hell it was a regular date on Saturday night to call up all the elemental spirits and have a ball. Change my environment to whatever I had in mind. Made me quite unpopular with the local governments. I didn't care, I was on my own. Going from one place to another. It's different here, I found out, the police are fierce. They got me when everyone else failed. Ands what's a sandbackie who isn't even in with the underground mages? Nothing but another mouth to feed in jail. They caught me on a roof of a one story building, I had nothing to offer them, so they threw me off." Laura smiled ruefully as she recalled it. "They didn't even bother with a mortician, just left me. Don and Kal found me, in the street, shattered backbone, batted spinal cord but I was alive. They knew what I had in me, and took me in. It took a long time, years. but they got me here."  
  
Nefret nodded. "They must mean a lot to you."  
  
Laura nodded also. "Now it's my turn to question. I've read about you Nefret, out of the Citadel slave records. You were a priestess, not a high one mind you, but an intelligent respected woman forced into slavery and many degrading positions. yet. yet you seem close to you master?"  
  
"It's something you can't understand until you're in my shoes. Moze treats me like crud on the bottom of his shoes most time, but that's only the surface. He can do no better, it's his actions that tell me his feelings. I know he cares for me even though he will never under and circumstances tell me such. I just know. The accommodations he makes for me, the way he protects me, just the simple act of keeping me around. It all tells me what he can't voice. And I care for him because... I've seen in him. if you look really really hard over a long period of time you see what's behind those cold black eyes. He has a soul, a rather good soul that he keeps locked up. One that he cant speak, but sometimes it escapes from his body in his actions." Nefret waved off her sudden mushy mood with a laugh. "Those to just better not break my heart and not be there at midnight!"  
  
*****  
  
Don cleared his throat and looked at Chroias. "Soo.. You lived in a golden age huh? Were magic was everywhere? Must have been paradise!."  
  
"Yes. It was. You'd never imagine what I've seen because you've been here all your life. In this place where magic may only exist under the table and behind closed doors. But in my time, magic was everywhere, entire cities made out of magic, flowing in enchanted streams, Gods and goddesses walked the earth and people worshiped them freely, our local hero own a genie by Hades sake! It was everywhere. Those with power were IN power! Not crowded in dirty alleys and ramshackle hideouts. We RULED!!!"  
  
"But did you rule wisely?" Don edged in knowing it would deflate the demons vision of magical paradise. "Historical texts show sorcerer kings and nobles were bitter, greedy, wrathful tyrants who ruined their domains and took their people to the dregs of society for. for. what? Even your Mozenrath."  
  
"Don't need to tell me twice." Chroias sighed and sat down. "I said we had power, I said we held power, I never said we were gods, we were just as human as you. We had.. have faults, desires, sins. But we don't deserve to be hunted down and killed till our breed is no more!!!!! We were born this way most of us, we deserve a place in society."  
  
"Exactly my sentiments senerita!" Don gave her a firm pat on the back. "You are the key that place, you and your friends are what we prayed for, someone to take down Chinadas and set mages, witches and the whole bunch of us where we belong, in the light, on the streets, in public, with the rest of humanity." Don leaned close during his dramatic speech.  
  
Chroias grinned a bit and gingerly pushed him back. "Hey now, if you don't want to see how much of a tyrant Mozy is you'll keep at least 2 feet of distance between us." She laughed as Don quickly retreated and scratched his head nervously. "Quite a ladies man I see." Chroias studied him for a moment. "Ever thought of making a move on one of the other underground sorcerer's? That Kal girl is cute, or how about the Celtic?" This made Don all the more nervous, Chroias decided to relieve some nerves and tease him a bit. "Hey and you know Nef is always free! She's been isolated sooo long and you KNOW what they say about Egyptian girls!"  
  
Don's face went blank. "No. what?" Chroias smiled and leaned close to his ear and whispered. Don's eyes went a bit funny as he suddenly jumped up and looked at his watch. "Well it's midnight, time to go!!"  
  
Chapter 192 (by Kalynn) Kal growled as the "dr." inched the cattle prod toward her. Her blue eyes glowed brightly and a small wind began to pick up. Just as suddenly she screamed as the manacles shocked her back with a red flame and her head collided with the wall. Regardless of the hit she managed to keep consciousness. Nox smiled as a small drop of blood inched from her forehead. "Like I said who are these other two." He touched her once with the cattle prod to emphasize.  
  
Mozenrath heard her yelp but still she bit back. He heard her make a chocking sound and saw her spit a lugi into the Nox man's face. Nox recoiled and brought his fist down hard on her cheek. Kal snapped back immediately and attempted to bite down only to be knocked back again.  
  
The "dr." pressed the cattle prod to her for a longer period this time and she screamed into the grin. Mozenrath could see tears coming from the girl's eyes. How old was she? Fifteen, maybe sixteen at best. She was holding up remarkable well considering that there were far worse tortures they could put a girl like her through. He saw her catch his eye momentarily as though trying to signal him somehow. He nodded even though he wasn't completely sure as to what that look was supposed to mean.  
  
Nox motioned to the "dr." and he backed away while Nox leaned in closer, he seemed to be whispering something to Kal and Mozenrath saw her eyes grow wide with fear. Just as suddenly he saw her knee launch upward and connect with Nox's more delicate masculine area. The man stumbled backwards and fell against the floor. The "dr." planted the prod against her skin again and even though her head recoiled in pain she snapped her jaw shut. Mozenrath had made the realization that this girl was twice as stubborn as he was, it was even possible that her ability to keep her mouth shut was due to having undergone something akin to this earlier in her life. It somehow gave him a felling of comfort to know there was someone else around so very like him.  
  
Suddenly the "dr." turned to him with a sadistic smile. Mozenrath braced himself.  
  
*****  
  
Nefret gazed around the club and still couldn't see the two missing member of the gang. "We've been watching for nearly an hour now and they still haven't show up." She complained.  
  
Laura nodded and looked over at Don. He was talking to a sorcerer named Carlsmith and the two seemed deep in conversation. "Now what's he up to." Chroias asked Laura  
  
Laura shrugged. "Don's got connections everywhere, if there's anything you need whether it be sorcery or mortal, just come to him. Don can get you a good deal on about anything." She smiled suddenly. "I suppose it has something to do with those burns of his."  
  
Chroias smiled, glad to have the first clue about Don's past. "Where exactly did he get those?" she asked.  
  
Laura shook her head. "You'll have to ask him yourself. But I'll tell you this much, let's just say the ristamak about this area are particularly cruel." she growled and took a drink from the bartender, a gargoyle with large red eyes. "We had to rescue him from within their dungeon" almost seven months ago. He was a handsome devil, I'll tell you that. Almond skin, blondish brown hair and tawny eyes."  
  
Chroias had other questions too, and she had never been one to give up easily. "What about the Kal girl? She's a particularly wild one isn't she?"  
  
"You have no idea." Laura said but Chroias hadn't given up yet.  
  
"Well according to you everyone's got a story? What's hers?" Nefret walked up with the demon and made it apparent that she was of no intent to leave.  
  
Laura shook her head. "Don't ask me. She never talks about her past and gets touchy when anyone brings it up. She never told me much about herself nor Don. She's a wild card that one. Almost a diabolical sort of woman." Laura offered the two a drink and they accepted.  
  
Nefret had a question of her own. "Is she evil?"  
  
Laura smiled. "You'd better hope not."  
  
Don suddenly appeared behind the two with a sad look on his face. "Got some bad news guys. Looks like our compares have been snatched up. The ristamak got a hold of them just after they left our sight." He picked up a glass of everclear and downed the whole shot in one sip. "My amigo over there said he heard about the two of them being picked up and put in the dungeons about a hour or two ago." He shook his head. "I don't know anything else." He said before anyone could ask. "But I'm sure we could find out." An almost sadistic grin came over his face that was mirrored by Chroias.  
  
Nefret grabbed Don by the shoulder. "What will they do to them, "she asked as if she didn't have a clue. "What?" Nefret added with a serious look on her face.  
  
Don touched his own cheek gently. "Nothing too serious if we find out where they are being held quick enough. But if we don't find them within the next three days we're better off just letting them die in peace."  
  
Chapter 193 (by Nefret) Nefret looked away not letting his last few words register in meaning in her mind. She heard them alright, just refused to acknowledge them. She looked to the demoness who was shaking slightly. Not that she was letting it show but for the unconscious shaking of her fingertips.  
  
"We'll do it Roias. We've gotten though worse. The gods wouldn't put us though all that we've been though just to send us to a strange place to die. Things just don't work that way." Nefret embraced her best friend not knowing if what she said was true or even made sense.  
  
Laura bit her lip and looked to Don. They were both victims of the ristamak and wanted to see no more like them.  
  
"We need to get back to the refuge, I have a few things being delivered there." He whispered to her. Laura nodded.  
  
Several crates lay in the back alley behind the refuge. Unloading proved them to be weapons. Guns to be more precise, really REALLY wicked looking guns. Tones of ammo, knives, plastic explosives, a mini arsenal to rival any government warehouse. Don instructed Nefret and Chroias both on each weapon as he clipped them around their belts or slipped them around their legs, arms and shoes. By the time he was done each girl must have weighed an extra 50 pounds. A long coat hid the traveling arsenal. Don readied himself and packed a duffle bag with explosives.  
  
"Hey G.I Joe, I don't suppose you got me something?" Laura sighed from the beaten up couch.  
  
Don retrieved a pack from the crate and presented it to her. "I never fail to please."  
  
Laura rolled her eyes and took the pack unwrapping it. She placed a headset over her head and threw a small round object at the girls and Don. Both Chroias and Nefret puzzled at it but followed Don's example and put it in their ear. Laura waved them over to her computer. "I'll be staying behind for.. Obvious reasons." She punched a few commands in the computer and the screen when black popping up with several pictures of the streets that changed every few seconds. "The ristamak has a network of cameras around the city. Mostly the main part, the ones around the refuge and the club have been rewired to show the feed from cameras a few blocks down so they're never able to see around here. Anyplace in the city however is pretty much covered. The idiots didn't feel much need to encrypt the feed database, it's easily hackable. I'll stay here and follow you through the city. If I see any ristamak you'll be the fist to know!"  
  
*****  
  
Nox had regained his composure and was leaning on the table glaring at Mozenrath. "Well well, seems I didn't look quite well enough. Your new two aren't you?" He leaned over Mozenrath's shoulder. "Yes, I haven't seen you before. You know these two woman?" He sat down on the table next to Mozenrath and picked up the pictures and shoved them under his nose. "Who-are-they." He emphasized each work with a jab of the cattle prod. Moze snarled back his pain, if the girl could handle it he wasn't about to scream. Supervisor Nox sighed and shoved the prod to Mozenrath thigh holding it there as he spoke. "Both as stubborn as mules!" He pulled back and Mozenrath gasped for breath, falling forward a bit and caught by his chains. "Just their names." Nox leaned in close to his ear. "That's all and I'll stop." Mozenrath only turned away. Nox shook his head disappointed. "To TO bad." He picked up the pictures fending empathy. "They're pretty. At least for now." He added  
  
Mozenrath looked up and Kal kicked him under the table.  
  
"It doesn't matter if you say anything or not, we'll get them. And since we don't know a thing about them, nothing will stop the ristamak from simply. ripping them limb from limb." He sighed and walked slowly to the door. "That is unless they find them as pretty as I do. Then they'll do something else first." He shut the door behind him leaving the two alone.  
  
Moze heard Kal shake her chains in a futile display of anger and gulp back her pain as she settled back down. "They'll be back, this was only the fist session. They'll be back for as long as it takes, or until we die." She hissed at Mozenrath warning him of what was to come. But she could see he had something else on his mind. "He was lying Mozenrath... that last part." She assured him as his head dropped back to stare at the grimy ceiling.  
  
****  
  
Don, Chroias and Nefret walked down the street trying to hide the slight metallic clang each of their steps caused. "Hey Lore, you still with us?" Don whispered half worried about the silence in his ear.  
  
Back at the refuge Laura was leaning back staring blankly at the changing screen shots. "No." She answered back with a slight chuckle. "Yes, I'm watching you, and I do believe your fly is open." She teased and laughed even harder when she saw him actually check.  
  
"Very funny basura blanco." Don grumbled. "Just keep a look out for ristamaks."  
  
"You know I resent that term!" came a loud voice in all their ears. It was silent for a moment. Then Laura's normally sweet came back on, this time a bit strained. "I resent it so much I just might not tell you about the patrol coming at ya!"  
  
Chroias froze. "Laura?"  
  
"Uh, guys.. run!" came the shriek. "No no, not that way. Left, now right, oh no good. Keep going, Rumkeys market is your safest bet." Laura directed as she watched them flee on the screen.  
  
They reached the market and hide behind some crates panting. Thought the wire they heard faint noises. A knocking sound then words. "I'm looking for some criminals, open up." The sound of a door busting open. "Hey what the hell is this?" they heard Laura curse at the failure cocking sound of a ristamak's weapon. "Let me see your hands!!!" The feet under Don's and the girl's feet shook in after shocks of the Celtics panic. Shoots ran out over the wire than static was all that filtered out of the earpiece.  
  
"LORE!!" Don cried into the tiny microphone set. Both girls slipped the earpiece from its place in shock. "Laura are you there? Are you." Don asked again before throwing the buzzing earpiece into the street with an angry cry.  
  
****  
  
Back at the refuge Laura leaned against the desk breathing hard and wide eyed as she stared at the fallen ristamak before her. Her gun hand fell limp in relief as she sat back down. A few other residents ran into the room and looked in horror at the enemy in their living room.  
  
An older man came in the room, the younger sorcerer parting like the red sea to his presence. He placed a hand on Laura's shoulder. "Good job." He turned back to the scared faces of the others. "Don't worry, this ristamak found his way here by accident. If they had found us they'd have sent an army, not a single solider. Our refuge is safe from detection. You two, drive his body to the docks and dump him, quickly." He left and Laura turned back to the screen. She regretfully ran her fingers over the image of the gang.  
  
"I'm alright guys. Sorry I had to leave you alone out there. I'll find away to help you again."  
  
Chapter 194 (by Kalynn) Kal looked tiered, very tiered. Her head sagged slightly and her eyes were shut. Mozenrath whispered her name and frowned when he didn't get a response. "KAL!" he yelled and breathed a sigh of relief when her head rose. To his surprise he saw a small shiny dot on her face. A single solitary tear. She realized what he was looking at and jerked her head away from the single bulb's light.  
  
For a moment Mozenrath wasn't sure what to say. So much of this girl reminded him of himself. He knew nothing of her past, nothing of her life, but he could simply sense that this girl had been through a lot. Unfortunately, she wasn't likely to tell anybody. If she was anything like him, Mozenrath knew she would guard her secrets well. Still it would be worth it trying to strike up a conversation. "You all right over there?" he commented and felt mild relief when she laughed. It was a dry sound, but still better then that silence she'd had hanging over her.  
  
"I just got electro shock therapy by a raving mad ristamak and a nameless 'dr.' and he asks me if I'm okay!" she laughed again and suddenly gave him a comforting/thankful look. "Yeah I'm fine. How you holding up?"  
  
Mozenrath nodded towards his hip. "No worse for the wear. Takes more then a stab to hurt me."  
  
The two have each other almost identical grins. "What other little gadgets do they have around here?" He wanted to know what else to expect. Kal shrugged her shoulder and looked up at the bulb. "I'm about to take care of a problem for us." She muttered and Mozenrath felt the pressure around the room change as she stretched her magic. He heard a whimper as the anti_magic manacles bite her but suddenly the bulb burst into flames and the two were plunged into darkness. "It'll give us time. They'll have to replace the bulb before they can do any work."  
  
Mozenrath noted her voice sounded worn out. "Look if you get any other ideas involving magic ask me and I'll take care of it. Ok?" he again heard the light laugh and then the room became silent.  
  
*****  
  
Chroias held one half of the body while Nefret held the other, the dumped it into a trashcan about three miles from the Rufugee and headed back. "Well can you believe this." Chroias took the opportunity to speak to her friend for the first time since their arrival. Nefret shook her head in a dismissive manner.  
  
"Since I've started working with Mozenrath I haven't attempted to believe or disbelieve anything." She opened the door to the refuge and was greeted by a attemptfully cheerful Bonny. "This guy reminds me so much of my own dog." She bent to pet the creature. Chroias looked over her shoulder at Kal's familiar Amshak. The cat was staring out the window and pacing back and fourth almost mechanically. It seemed overly disturbed by it's mistress's lack of appearance. As though sensing her watching him, Amshak turned and meowed sorrowfully to Chroias. For a moment Chroias thought she heard the cat say something. Just the faintest mutter of "Want out." But she shook her head. The familiar was Kal's and no logical explication could define why she might hear the cat speek. Laura was watching the screen intensely and Don seemed to be engaging Nef in conversation. She could tell by the way he was smiling and flipping his hair from his face that he had taken her advice and wears flirting with the girl. She edged close to hear what the two were saying.  
  
Chapter 195 (by Nefret) The voices were faint at first but a sharp bang on the old computer brought them into to focus. "So it's funny really, you guys were the stuff of legends. Some people disbelieved Mozenrath ever even existed, what with his unexplainable disappearance from history. And here you all are, in the flesh." Don breathed.  
  
Nefret nodded slightly. "I hope history treated me well."  
  
"It didn't near do you justice." Don smiled, but the comment didn't bring the reaction he hoped, not the girlish blush or giggle, she just turned away hiding her face. "Something I said?"  
  
"No no." Nefret turned back around with a smile, strained as it may be. "Just the stress of Mozenrath being gone and all." She looked down again.  
  
"I know, theirs no reason to worry, he's with Kal. And were all out here trying to help, that's pretty weighty odds on our side." He touched her shoulder briefly. She seemed to relax and the smile became less strained and more involuntary. Don saw a glimmer of hope. "Hey you want to get a nightcap at the cabaret? It'll take down the stress and we can get more weaponry. Plus they have karaoke tonight, that's always a laugh."  
  
Nefret's eyebrows shifted. "Karaoke?"  
  
Don laughed hearty. "You have a lot to learn girl." He easily wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he led her away. Nefret laughed and elbowed him with some comment that was too faint to hear.  
  
****  
  
"Hey whatcha looking at?" Chroias leaned over Laura's shoulder causing her to jump and try to cover the screen. "Ah, eavesdropping are we?" She prodded the girl. "What's going on? Don's making moves on Neffie? Well good for him! Might do Nef some good to get a guy for awhile to, She's a priestess of a love goddess after all!"  
  
Laura smiled broadly in accordance. "I'm quite proud of Don. He's usually soooo self conscious of his burns. Keeps him from really seriously perusing someone." Laura suddenly an absolutely wicked gleam in her eye as she turned to the demoness. "What's say we do some surveillance? A little spy action to make sure Don gets along alright?" The Celtic suggested. She knew nothing more could be done right that second to help her friend and the new sorcerer, and she really had no fear that they were in immediate danger as of yet, not within the first few days. Besides at the Cabaret they could try and recruit some more soldiers and weapons. The more muscle they assaulted the ristamak's with tomorrow the better! Preparation and fun all in one trip! Chroias grined picking up on the girl's thoughts. Laura smiled broader as she grabbed her coat and chair. "I'm not leaving this behind this time. Just in case.." She added as they headed out the door to the club.  
  
Bonny, who suddenly noticing she would be left behind, rushed though the door just as it banged shut and happily trotted behind her mistress. Neither of the girls noticed they had a tag along and noticed even less when the dog was suddenly grabbed from behind a dumpster.  
  
"Boss, there they are!!!! That damn Celtic bitch and the new girl! We could just..." The ristamak aimed his riffle but the chief forced it down and turned to his subordinate holding the squirming dog.  
  
"No, we can pop off those two and their knowledge off all the magic hangouts is lost with the bullet. No, we simply use man's best friend against them!" He petted the cringing dog and ran a hand under the heavy fur of her ruff retrieving her hidden collar and clipping a small beckon on it. "There you go girl. A pretty new tracking device tag, now mandatory for all pets of sandblackies." He laughed huskily and set the dog down. Bonny circled a bit and whined. A sharp kick sent her sprawling back into the streets. Bonny got up and sniffed the ground. Catching the familiar sent of the girl she'd known since she was a pup Bonny took off for in the direction of the club. The ristamak grinned as the dog's signal tracked on a small hand held screen. "That's a girl, show me where they all are."  
  
****  
  
Chroias and Laura had taken a seat in the corner of the club as they spied on the two. Don had ordered Nef a drink after a seemingly serious conversation with the bartender and resumed a light chat with his "date." He was perhaps trying a bit to hard but Chroias had to laugh at how Nefret was eating up the rare attention from the opposite sex. Poor girl had been away from civilization for so long she had perhaps forgotten it was like.  
  
A sudden cold made Laura gasp a bit. She looked down to see Bonny nudge her heads under her hand. "How did you get out?" Bonny only cocked her head. "Never were the smartest dog." Laura affectingly rattled the dog's cranium gently and thought nothing of the soft jingle of metal.  
  
****  
  
Outside the cabaret a total of 5 ristamak's loaded their weapons and smiled slightly  
  
Chapter 196 (by Kalynn) The soft click of metal brought Mozenrath and Chroias around. Both could feel the tension in the room as Nox entered with a cart being pushed in front of him. A large white cloth covered the contents from vision. "My but it got dark in here." He said playfully. The light from the door gave him enough vision to see KAL AND Mozenrath hanging side by side on the walls. "Did you really think that would stray us for long?" he laughed and Mozenrath flinched as the cattle prod touched both their sides in a quick cutting gesture.  
  
Mozenrath spouted some foul sounding words in old script Farsi. Nox gave him an inquisitive look and grabbed the young sorcerer's collar. "What did you just say?"  
  
Mozenrath came to realize that he might have an advantage. He spoke Farsi and the man obviously didn't. It wasn't much, but it gave him something.  
  
Kal looked over at him with the same inquisitiveness. She couldn't understand a word of it either. Still, Mozenrath locked it tightly away in his memories. Nox still hovered over him and for the meantime he would have to distract the folls attentions. "Bloody bastered." He growled out in as harsh a voice as possible. "How long do you really think you've got before we find a way out of here?" he recoiled as Nox's fist slammed against his eye and the world spun for a moment. He saw Kal's foot lash out and nail the man's knee. He went down. "Gotta watch the low blows." Kal heckled him.  
  
Chapter 197 (by Nefret) Nox crashed his fist into the floor to absolve the ache. Slowly his light sobs of pain turned to outright laughs. Nox pulled himself upright and sat on a nearby table. "You like playing ruff huh?" He grinned sickly. "Find a way out?" He turned to Mozenrath who smiled sardonically despite the already bruising cheekbone. "Doesn't look like your moving to far." He taunted "Or perhaps you've got someone on the outside?" He gestured in a wide sweep of his arms. "An army of militants ready to crash through the door in the burst of cliché grass roots glory!!! An uprising of the oppressed to save a few and sweep in a new era!" He shook his head and sat back down. "Romantic idea isn't it. It's what you'd find a good book, or movie. Not here." Nox smiled almost pitifully as Kal's eyes narrowed in wonder. What was he getting at?  
  
"Nox, you sound just like one of those storybook tyrants. And you know what always happened to them in the end." Kal suggested the inevitable.  
  
"Quite possibly if the rats are left to populate. WE, however, have stamped them out!" Nox laughed as Kal drew in a breath. "Yes, your friends, caught, every one. In just a matter of moments they will be delivered here.." He suddenly produced the pictures from the former grilling session and dumped them into the waste can. "Into MY hands." With a flick of the wrist Nox tossed a lighter into the can and left as the flames ravaged the photos. Mozenrath's nostrils faired in fear and anger as the picture on top, that of is own beloved Chroias, turned black and curled into a fiery ball. Kal looked away.  
  
*****  
  
The cabaret was utter chaos as the visitors fled the sweeping force of ristamak's. Those caught suffered the pain and indignity of being knocked out and drug away to be piled on top of each other in the back a truck like so many cattle. Chroias and Laura forgot their spy mission and clustered with Don and Nefret at the bar. They barley had time to make each other aware of their presence then they were surrounded by risamak's A fist flew at the demon's head but made no contact as a blaring green energy shocked it back. Laura was knocked off her already weary feet. Nef also ducked a flying nightstick and as a result fell into Don's chest. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into the ritamak for an easy capture. Nefret seemed stunned for a moment, she had gone from the strong support of Don's chest to the ruff pinch of handcuffs. Don gave a halfhearted swing before allowing himself to be held and cuffed. Chroias made a dash to Nefret as she was pulled aside from the fight but a sudden flash of light from the back of her eyes stopped everything. Laura watched as the demoness fell to the ground after the risamak's blow. She attempted to pull herself up awkwardly but Don "accidentally' kicked out her hand as he was being pulled to the bar. The Celtic was easily captured after that.  
  
Soon the gang was lined up at the bar and patted down roughly. Nefret, after being searched was given a rough shove crashing her into Don again. She seized the moment. "What the HELL are you doing?! I though you.." She broke off he harsh whisper at Don's gentle smile.  
  
"Hush girl, you want your master back? We wont make it far if we brake in, but if we're escorted in on a red carpet.." He explained his plan as Nefret's anger started to melt away. "I wouldn't hurt you intentionally. understand that.." he was unable to finish as a blow found his skull. Nefret and Laura saw theirs coming and made no attempt to escape as they were knocked out.  
  
****  
  
Chroias groaned and opened her eyes to find herself being unloaded from the truck. A thin looking man was holding something to her neck, she felt a sharp pain as a vile in the strange machine filled with blood. She heard a murky voice. "Keep an eye on this one, she has strong magic. Could be dangerous." She looked around to see Don, Laura and Nef also being unloaded and tested. "Fire." The thin man said and pointed to Don. "Earth witch." He labeled Laura. At Nefret he seemed confused. "Nothing, she's human. Take the antimagic cuffs off, they're a waste on her." He snorted and moved on.  
  
****  
  
The waste can fire had long since died out but Mozenrath was still staring at it when Nox returned. "Success!" He cried happily as the two looked over. "Why don't you come see the parade!" Nox grinned as armed guards came in to escort Kal and Moze.  
  
The sorcerer and girl were lead to a large one-way window overlooking a hallway near the entry. A slow file of mages, witches, werebeasts, and creature of every magical kind drug their chained bodies down the walkway. Kal bit her lip as her gang entered bound and beaten. Fist Chroias than Nefret, than Laura supported in large part by Don's shoulder since her cane was useless in her chained state.  
  
Nefret looked around wearily, she held back and leaned back to Don. "NOW what?"  
  
"I didn't think past this part." He admitted. "But hey, you're the only one without antimagic cuffs you HUMAN." He let his eyes dart to her ring on the hand bound behind her back by normal cuffs, he had recognized it a long time ago as an energy. "I hope you're flexible."  
  
Nefret bit her lip at that comment and flexed her hands, shoulders and legs. With a spring jump she pulled her knees to her chest and swung the loop of her bound hands under them and in front of her. The ring fired in a heartbeat to Chroias's cuffs. The bond was only designed to protect from the magic of the wearer, not from outside forces and the rings minimal shock overloaded the system freeing the demon to use her power. It didn't take the ristamak long to respond and the moment her duty was completed a sharp blow slammed Nef unconscious against the wall.  
  
Everything below Moze and Kal had come to a dead stop as Nefret slid slowly to the floor and Chroias cracked her bonds. A pit in Mozenrath's stomach refused to reveal if this was a good or bad turn of events.  
  
Chapter 198 (by Kalynn) Chroias immediately went over to Mozenrath kissing him franticly like she hadn't seen him in years. For once the sorcerer didn't complain, he returned her kisses as Kal went to setting the others lose.  
  
"You all doing all right?" she questioned and helped Nefret and Don up off the floor.  
  
"I'm fine, once they realized I was human they didn't see much of a use for me." Nefret walked over to Don who winced as she took off the cuffs. They'd bitten into his fragile skin and now clear red cuts were welling with blood.  
  
Kal frowned and nodded to Laura. 'I can fix them up a little but we won't be able to sew 'em shut until we get back to the refuge."  
  
"We won't be going back to the refuge." Laura announced firmly. "If they traced us to the Cabaret they'd have had to have started back when we left. By the time we get back there could be a thousand guards there."  
  
Don , being helped to wrap up his wrists by Nefret, frowned angrily. "But our books, our items. Mot of what we own is in that Refuge. We leave it as is and we won't have anything but the cloths on our backs."  
  
Mozenrath shook his head. "Not quite. I admitt that these ristamak have veritable forces against magic, but I think that if a few of us could find a suitable distraction then maybe we could sneak in and get what we need, then hustle out of there before they even know what's hit 'em."  
  
A sudden meowing sound entered the room as a sleek black cat walked in as though it had nothing better to do then stroll through a maximum security prison and jumped up on Kal's shoulders. Kal looked over at her friend Amashak and listened as he meowed intently. "Amshak says he approves of your idea and thinks he could improve on it a mite." she shook her head. "But I'm not sure I like the idea of leavening the other sorcerers they brought in here."  
  
The cat continued meowing repeatedly and Kal listened. "He say's they are holding the other magical entities on cell block 89 and there are too many devices for us to get past as of now. Not with depleted as our magic is." she nodded to the burned clothing she and Mozenrath wore as well as the blood on Don's wrists. "Not with as weak as we are."  
  
Mozenrath nodded much to everyone's surprise. "But how are we going to get out of here and then heal up once we have?" Chroias interjected and looked curiously at the cat.  
  
As though he could feel her questioning, Amshak let out a low deep puuurrrr. "He say's he knows a way out, that is if you all feel up to a transformation spell. And once were out of here I....know someone...who can give us the medical supplies and fix us up a mite."  
  
Mozenrath didn't see anyone else catch it but there was a definite pause in Kal's voice when she spoke of someone who could help them. Perhaps someone she used to know?  
  
******  
  
Ten minuets later, six kittens black kittens, (one with a brown paw), slunk thought the night compound of the prison.  
  
******  
  
Kal lead them down the streets of the city. No one dared to use any magic as the attempted to keep their whereabouts a secret. Even Amshak stayed silent, moving his lambent yellow eyes back and fourth to see if anyone followed. Bonny managed to find them soon enough and the troop then turned down a street that confused everyone. "Don't worry about yourselves guys." Kal directed in a huffy, irritated voice. "There ain't a person in this neighborhood who would mess with us."  
  
The houses were considerably better. Luxurious condos and old style Victorian mansions with immaculately done lawns and sweeping terraces. Iron gates with elaborate symbols on the front. This was a place for the rich. Mozenrath felt somewhat more comfortable here. He had become used to the finer things in life and (though he didn't hold their statues against them), found his new acquaintances to be somewhat below him. It wasn't their faults. Had they been born in his time they would have been in wonderful houses with fine foods and silk clothing. But this time was far different from that one. Mozenrath sighed ruefully as they walked up to a big silver gate with the words 'Impace Requiscat' on the front.  
  
Kal sighed and lead them around the back. Laura suddenly heaved forward, no longer able to keep standing on her own feet. The walk had to have been at least six miles and she was hurting bad. Kal gave the girl what little support she could and Amshak helped by purring against her hand. Bonny helped his mistress and they finally reached the door. The back door.  
  
Kal knocked three times and a few moments later a well dressed man came to the front. His eyes showed shock for only the briefest of seconds and he bowed slightly to Kal. "Madmae." his voice was full of questions.  
  
Kal bent closely to him and whispered something in his ear. The man's shock was permanent this time as he rushed from the door.  
  
"What was that all about?" Mozenrath asked as Kal hide her face temporarily from view.  
  
A new man came to the door.His hair was dark black and slicked back with gel. His eyes were firey purple and shaped thin like a Chinese mans.He was handsome.Strong faced and solidly built. He was richly dressed in a black Armani suit with tie and shoes to match. "He smiled as he saw who stood at his door. "Well I'll be danmed." he whispered as Kal raised her head.  
  
"Hello Manicie." Kal said.  
  
Chapter 199 (by Nefret) The man named Manicie sat in the chair watching the doctor do his work. He was an old family physician of theirs and thought little of the strangers he now doctored, for a price. Don's wrists were sutured, Chroias's various wounds were treated, the goose egg that had formed on the back of Nefret's head was looked at and deemed superficial and Laura was given something for her pain. Mozenrath and Kal's numerous bruises, cuts and burns took the longest. As Mozenrath looked away from the doctors hands as he slowly stitched back the torn skin of his arm he caught Nefret and Don on a near by table talking, Don seemed regretful but a assuring peck on the cheek from Nef got a smile out of him.  
  
Mozenrath shook his head. "That's new. Anything else happen while I was gone?" He turned to Chroias.  
  
She followed Nef's example and pecked him on the cheek, "Nothing, we we're all to worried about you two." Chroias exclaimed and hugged him, threatening never to let go.  
  
Nefret soon joined her master's side to overlook the treatment of his wounds. "You alright?" she breezed. Mozenrath only nodded tying not to think of the needle sowing up his skin. Nefret also nodded and bit her lip before taking on another easy attitude. "Good. You have the darnest way of worrying people." She laughed, it was the closest she could come to admitting she had been scared for him. Mozenrath nodded yet again, but this time he looked her in the eyes.  
  
Kal sat at the window staring out into the dark blankly. She hadn't been talking much since they got there. Bonny bounded up on the seat beside her, a sure sign Laura was on her way. Kal didn't bother to look at her as the girl sat down with a groan. Things were silent between them.  
  
"It sure is dark out there." Laura mumbled taking to staring out the window to. "Dark in here to." She mentioned, Kal knew she had two meanings to the statement. "Someone should turn on a light." Laura sighed and left.  
  
****  
  
Everyone was dead on their feet after being stitched and pasted back together. As if there was no question to the hospitality the gang headed upstairs to claim bedrooms. Laura, not being pick at a time like this, took the first on she came to, Kal took the second, and Chroias pulled Mozenrath into the third. Moze hesitated a bit as he watched Nef and Don continue down the chamber hall.  
  
He huffed as Chroias shut the door. "I wonder what THEIR sleeping arrangements will be." The sorcerer grumbled. He hated the thought of someone getting close to, and perhaps using, his property, even if that property happed to be a living breathing human being.  
  
"Shut up Mozenrath." Chroias ordered as she advanced on him.  
  
*****  
  
Laura was half asleep when she heard a scratching and whining at her door, she turned over to see Bonny at the door franticly watching the shadows from under the door. She narrowed her eyes at a familure purr. Slowly she got up and made her way out her door and in the direction of the retreating shadows. In an old bedroom she found Kal sitting on the bed, her face hidden.  
  
"Kal?" Laura said barely above a whisper.  
  
Chapter 200 (by Kalynn) "Yes." Kal said not taking her head out of the shadows. You couldn't tell anything from Kal's voice, Laura had learned a long time ago that her friend was excellent at hiding emotions.  
  
"Nothin." She shrugged. "Just, well you never told anyone about this." She gestured about airily as though to say she was there to listen if Kal wanted to talk about it.  
  
Amshak meowed something to Kal and the girl smiled. "I don't tell people a lot of things now do I Amshak." The cat made a disgruntled meow and gave Kal a rather disappointed glance. "You know Amshak sometimes you don't even need a telepathic voice to get you point across." She said sarcastically as Bonny walked over and barked something at Amshak. The cat again meowed in a be-silent kind of way and Laura went to sit beside her friend.  
  
Laura didn't say anything about the dark shadows forming under her eyes, about the red streaks in them from crying, about how her cheeks looked sunken in. "So this Manicie guy used to work for your family." Laura treaded carefully knowing that force would bring no answer. She felt encouraged when Kal shook her head yes. "You never told me about you family."  
  
"No I didn't did I." She said in a curt fashion that made Laura think immediately of Mozenrath. That gave her an idea. Perhaps if she couldn't pry information out of Kal... "All right all right no need to get all defensive about it." She promptly began to leave the room with Bonny following her.  
  
She didn't get past the door before Kal caught up with her. "Would you say no to some vodka?" she said in an almost cheerful tone.  
  
Knowing Kal as long as she had, Laura could tell this was the girls way of apologizing. "What the hell. Come on let's get plastered."  
  
*****  
  
Chroias's warm body was again snuggled up against Mozenrath as he kept his arms wrapped around her. Nether were asleep, but they were often like this. Nether talking, simply enjoying the pleasure of one another's company. "How do you think Nefret's making out with that Don character?" Chroias brought up suddenly.  
  
"I'd rather not think about how their making out." Mozenrath said in a much more insulted fashion.  
  
"Moze if I didn't know any better I'd think you were just mildly jealous." She winked and kissed him.  
  
"Not jealous, possessive. Nefret is my property regardless as to weather or not she believes it." He returned Chroias kiss absently and she decided he was to distract for anything else at the moment.  
  
"Why do you think Kal brought us here? And how do you think she knew this was a safe place to bring us?" Chroias commented as though the thought had just entered her mind.  
  
"I have no idea. That girls got a lot of secrets, and a lot of pain."  
  
Chroias looked directly in her lover's eyes. "You say that as if you know."  
  
Mozenrath didn't reply, he simply bowed his head to Chroias's lips, making it plain what he intended. And they said no more.  
  
Chapter 201 (by Nefret) Nefret lay on her side looked blankly at the dark bedroom wall. She noted the lighting tone of the paint as the sun rose. Yet she was staring through the wall in thought. 'Yet another morning in a new and strange bed, a new and strange time, with a new and strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, what next? What now? What is coming? When will we be where we belong? Where is that?' Nefret's thoughts were cut of just before her big revelation. The annoying sound of the alarm told her yet another day of chaos was begining  
  
****  
  
Chroias peeked out of her door just as Nef opened her door and dragged herself down the hallway. A few seconds later a very happy looking Don came strolling out of the same room.  
  
"What are you laughing about?" Mozenrath demanded joining her at the door as the demoness came down with a case of the giggles. Roais slammed the door shut before Moze got to her.  
  
"Nothing." Chroias said in a sing song voice.  
  
***  
  
Kal and Laura were already downstairs when the gang came meandering down the stairs. It must be said both girls seemed to be suffering the after affects of the their little nightcap. Chroias winked at Nefret and the young girl eyes narrowed in that famous 'say a word about it and die' look. Moze also gave Don a visual message 'wipe the smile off you face.' Don did so, and quite quickly to.  
  
Amshak gave a half laughing meow as he looked at the rag tag band of refugees. Chroias looked to Kal for a translation. "Amshak says, 'we look worse than we did before we got here." Kal grumbled. It was a true statement, but still not appreciated.  
  
"Well, we still have to think of the immediate future. We still need to strengthen our magic, defeat the ristmak, get our people out, build back the underground.." Laura was cut off curly by Mozenrath's fist on the table.  
  
"The underground??? You people plan on hiding in the allies forever?!!! No better than rats." He hissed at the girl's surprised expression. "Is that the only way you plan to live, day to day, hiding spot to hiding spot, fleeing from the light and ristamak's? It makes me sick, the state of my brothers and sisters in magic."  
  
Kal let out a breath of anger. "And you, all of you, have been hiding right along with us!!! So I am of course very interested in what you plan we do."  
  
Moze took up her challenge. "Your problem seems to be the little witch sitting in my throne. She's the one who gives us all a bad name, she's the reason we're hunted down like dogs. I say we take her out, hard."  
  
"Easy to say for someone who doesn't know her." Kal snorted as she began on her breakfast.  
  
Laura sighed. "Kal is right, you have no idea how powerful she is, how dangerous. how completely psycho that woman is!" Laura shook her head as Moze sat back down. "Our entire underground network, every sorcerer, witch, magician, mage, beast, and spirit together would still fall short of her power."  
  
Moze thought for a moment at the sheer immensity of the statement. Could someone become that powerful? "Than we add muscle to the mix." Everyone looked at her questionly. "We add a new alliance to our force, the ristmak." He pounded his fist firmly on the table.  
  
Laura chocked and Kal laughed ruefully. "Your crazier then the history books claim!" Kal exclaimed. "The very people who hunt us down, who kill us, who drive us to the brinks of society.. and you want to make friends??" Kal shook her head.  
  
"Sounds like the best idea you've got available kid." Came a rough voice from the door. Kal didn't turn around, she knew who it was. Manicie entered the room and took a seat. "I could arrange a personal meeting with a ristmak high up on the corporate ladder. A close personal friend of mine. Maybe you two could come to some kind of agreement."  
  
Chapter 202 (by Kalynn) "I just want to go on record as saying that I am sooooooo not likening this." Kal muttered as Mozenrath sat beside her. It was decided that a large group going to meet the ristamak would be nothing short of a death wish, so they choose the two who were most likely to leave an impression weather or not the deal went well. Kal and Mozenrath.  
  
"Well were quickly falling short of options." Mozenrath pulled her into an ally way as they continued along Manicie's directions. "I don't like being hunted Kal, and I'm sure you don't either."  
  
"What do you know about it?" Kal scoffed in a voice dripping with disdain. "From what it sounds like your kind had it pretty good, what do you know about being hunted, what do you know about living your life in the shadows."  
  
Mozenrath turned on her. "I know far more about it then you seem to think."  
  
"Your only doing this cause you don't like the thought of someone else sitting on your throne!" Kal yelled suddenly.  
  
"Your right I don't! But there are other reasons!" Mozenrath could feel the mana level between them rising.  
  
"Like what? And don't say your doing all this out of the kindness of your heart. If you have one that is." She sneered and Mozenrath was immediately reminded of himself. Very quickly a theory began to form in his mind. Now was not the time to ay anything of it.  
  
"No not entirely. But somewhat. Did the history books you read say anything about my children?" He could see by the confusion on Kal's face that they had not. "Zakuram and Tristram. They are the children of Chroias and myself. You think this is what I want them to grow up to?" he gestured about. "This world where magic isn't allowed to walk the streets in broad daylight. Where we are hunted like common animals and forced to find refugee in the worst places!!" Mozenrath calmed himself as he could tell his words were making an impact on Kal. "I don't want that for them." He said and began to turn his back.  
  
Kal grabbed his shoulder. "So you do care about something." she said only mildly surprised.  
  
Mozenrath nodded. "What about you?"  
  
Immediately Mozenrath could sense her emotional barriers slam back up. "What about me?"  
  
"Well if I care about something, you must.? Mozenrath knew it was a feeble excuse to get information out of her, but it was all he had.  
  
"You've been talking to Laura haven't you." Kal said skeptically. Mozenrath shook his head no. "I don't see why you'd care."  
  
"Let's just say I'm INTERESTED in my cohorts." Mozenrath didn't look like he was going anywhere nor was he planning to let her get out of his questioning.  
  
Kal's look turned for the worse. "It='s none of your business. Why has everybody been on my case about that lately? Laura and even you! Back off okay!" The wind around her had begun to pick up and the clouds in the sky were turning a harsh gray. Thunder sounded in the distance and Mozenrath started to feel a light rain touch his shoulders.  
  
"All right all right!!! Mozenrath called and shot a bolt of magic at her. Kal fell back slightly and glared at him. "You said yourself it wasn't a good idea to use magic about here. Try following your own rules for a change."  
  
Kal hefted herself up from the ground and glared at him. "Do me a favor Moze." Mozenrath looked over at her. "Don't do me any favors."  
  
***  
  
Laura watched out the window of the mansion. The rain had begun to pour almost as soon as Mozenrath and Kal had left. "Well at least Kal's bound to be happy. She loves the rain."  
  
Chapter 203 (by Nefret) Kal opened the door of the shabby hotel lobby not bothering to keep it open for Mozenrath. Moze huffed as he slammed the door back from slamming in his face.  
  
"We should be meeting this ristmak in the hotel café. I'm not sure if meeting in a public place is a safe hold or a bad idea." She grumbled as they treaded over the dirty carpet to the coffee bar. At the last table sat a uniformed figure his face hidden by the brim of his military issued hat. The ristmak didn't look up as the two took a seat. Kal flexed her hand under the table trying to relive her nerves as the man slowly raised his head.  
  
"Well, it's you two again. I was hoping to meet some new faces, but I must say I feel quite comfortable now!" The man chipped cheerily.  
  
"Nox." The name was more like an animalistic growl on Kal's lips then anything to be produced by human vocal cords.  
  
"No no, no more animosity. I'm off duty. That back there was all business. Not to say I don't enjoy my job." Nox chuckled at the enraged faces of the two.  
  
"I think our meeting is done." Kal stood up and motioned Mozenrath for him to do the same. Nox jutted out his foot under the table keeping Mozenrath from pushing out his chair.  
  
"Come now, we haven't even spoken yet. And I DO have so much to say." Nox offered them a cup of coffee as Kal sat reluctantly back down. "I must say it was quite a surprise to get a call from my old friend Manicie. We when to school together you know, both belonged to a fraternity. We had a code back then, always come to your brother's side. Old Manicie called in that code today. I'm here to strike a deal with you."  
  
"We want.." Kal started her demands but Nox cut her off.  
  
"Oh no. This isn't about what you want, it's what I want.." Nox leaned back. He could tell Kal and Moze were boiling mad. "It seems we have a common goal, the fall of Chinadis. Though we try, she continues to rule the Land of the Black Sand. It has come to our attention that muscle will never bring her down. So we fight fire with fire. You sorcerers will take down the witch."  
  
"We wont do your dirty work for you. And even if we would do you think if we could really defeat her we would have by now?! She is the reason for the prejudice against us. Maybe that fact is to obvious for you thick ristamak's to see." Kal snorted as she pushed away the coffee.  
  
Nox looked rather thoughtful. "I perhaps thought of it. But how can we see you as anything but the enemy when you don't lift a finger against chinadis? Then here's my deal, I supply you will an arsenal, every kind of weapon you could want. With firepower and your own. unique talent, it should be easy to take her out."  
  
"And that solves your problems. I don't see anything in it for US." Moze growled.  
  
"Than you aren't looking hard enough. May I remind you we have quite a few of your ranks locked in our dungeons? Take down Chinadis and they will be free. You will all be free, when you show your on the side of good I see no reason why you people cant come out of hiding, go to your homes, function in normal society." Nox smiled as he caught Kal's eyes widen slightly at the thought. "Do it for comrades and yourselves."  
  
Moze looked to Kal. He leaned in close for her opinion. "Even with added high tech firearms it will be hard to face Chinadis." She admitted in a whisper to Mozenrath. "But, to have our people free, totally free... It could be worth it."  
  
Moze nodded. "You will of course give us time to think about it." Moze said in more of a demand than a question.  
  
Nox's face-hardened. "No waiting, you take it now or leave."  
  
******  
  
Laura bit her lip as she looked out the window. They had been gone for awhile. Chroias and Nefret sat together trying to sooth each other's nerves in a game of senate. But their game was often broken by long periods of gazing out the window from their seats. Chroias finally got up and joined Laura. "Come away from there, sitting here won't make anything better. Worry changes nothing." The demon contradicted herself as she to sat down and watched the rain come down.  
  
Nefret joined the girls and smoothed her hand down Chroias green hair and hummed. Everything stopped as they caught sight of the two coming up the back walk. All the girls and Don rushed to the door to greet them.  
  
Mozenrath and Kal were drenched, tired, and not happy. Chroias meet her lover with a bruising kiss as Nefret reached up to wrap his shoulders in a towel. Laura smiled gratefully at Kal's and handed her a towel. Don and the girls jumped to defense as a military cargo truck pulled into the drive and several men jumped out to unload weapons crates.  
  
"Relax." Kal assured Laura as she noticed the ground quake a bit. "We made a little deal."  
  
Chapter 204 (by Kalynn)  
  
Kal smiled happily as she pulled out a hand held gun called the Noisy Cricket. Mozenrath looked at her as she chuckled darkly. "I have always wanted one of these." She replaced her Colt Anaconda with the thing.  
  
Mozenrath scoffed. "I could break that thing with one hand!" he sneered.  
  
Laura laughed and shook her head. "Only if you wanted to blow off your hand." She winced as he flexed his right hand. "No offence."  
  
Mozenrath shrugged and picked up a machine gun. "How does this work?"  
  
Don walked over beside him and held up the straps. ":Ok Lift your arms." He wrapped one of the straps around the sorcerer's back and attached it at his waist. "Now slip your hand in this." He indicated a holster meant to protect the hand as well as provide a trigger. "DO NOT press anything yet." Don said to save incidents.  
  
Mozenrath felt carefully with his left hand and immediately the weapon responded. When he moved to one side it moved with him, coiling and flexing as he needed it with his body. A flash of insanity showed on his face. "I defiantly like this."  
  
Chroias picked out a whip that looked much like her old one. Kal laughed at her surprised face. "Nice isn't it." She took the whip and pointed to one of the statues. A quick flick of her wrist and the whip wound about the neck, snapping it downward, and suddenly the head was on the floor. She pointed to the sides. "The whip has sharp blades akin to those in Japan. Won't break and will slice through armor."  
  
Don took to helping Nefret with her weapon. "You should appreciate this." He handed her a set of Claws that shone brightly in the sun. Each one fit over her finger and curved like a scythe blade.  
  
"Nice, but what good are simple blades against magic like this Chinadas's?" Nefret tapped the blades together.  
  
Don shook his head sadly. "Neffie neffie neffie, when are you going to stop underestimating me?" he put a friendly arm about her shoulder and Nefret giggled as though she knew exactly what he meant. Mozenrath's groan was unnoticed as he indicated the small holes in the tips. "Say Dantaum."  
  
Nefret shrugged. "Danteum!"  
  
Immediately everybody ducked as a red flame came shooting out of the holes. "I thought since you weren't originally magic you might need a bit more fire power then the rest of us. " He grinned at Nefret's surprised face."  
  
Manice walked in. "Fine way you go about repaying me Kal, I fix you up supply you with weapons, and give you good food and you damn near rip my house apart." He pointed angrily at the burn marks on the wall.  
  
Kal shrugged. "Talk to Eagle-eye over here and her cohort, the Amazing Bimboni." She jerked a finger at the two aforementioned and smiled.  
  
Laura slapped her friend on the back and chortled. "Like you always had perfect aim!"  
  
"Oh actually she's always had rather good aim, even when she was a child she." Manicie broke off as he caught Kal's dark glare and the attention he'd gotten from everybody else. He stumbled over his words. "Ummm, I'll go see to it that the rest of the weaponry is stored."  
  
Laura gave her friend a curious look. Kal shrugged as though it had meant nothing and went back to putting on three extra holsters filled with guns. Amshak seemed to be pointing out which ones he thought would bring her the most use.  
  
Laura made her way over to Mozenrath. The sorcerer was standing beside Chroias. The two seemed to be discussing a rather nasty looking scimitar and a curved blade. The witch waited patiently till the demoness had left before she caught the sorcerer's attention.  
  
"She's not going to want to talk about it." Mozenrath proclaimed after Laura explained the situation. "She reminds me so damn much of myself I could swear we were somwhow." he looked directly at Laura and the Earth sorceress nodded.  
  
"I've suspected it for years, but she never talks about her past, she never lets on about anything, where her powers came from, where she got those pale features and that thin body." Laura petted her dog Bonny. "You two don't look that far apart, I guess passing generations gave her the reddish- gold hair and the blue eyes."  
  
Mozenrath nodded. "But if you already know the truth then why do you want her to admit it?" he asked.  
  
"Don't you get it." Laura said angrily. "She's ashamed!! She's probably gotten a bad rap her entire life ever since people found out she was part of your bloodline. I've searched ever record and every piece of paper I could find, but as of about 20 years ago you family line seems to have dropped off somewhere. The last born that could have been directly related to you was a Woman named Donna Lizardelth. She died while giving birth. No documents say whether the child was male of female. I don't know how she got along after that with no family, but" she indicated the door. "I have strong suspicions about the Mancie character."  
  
Mozenrath felt slightly faint. Thank Allah he didn't have to reply. Nox walked in carrying a large roll of paper. Finding a suitable table, he laid it out and held it down with paper weights. "Ok ladies and" he hesitated as he looked at Mozenrath and Don. "Gentleman. I've got here everything we know about the citadel to date. Trap's structural design, down to the rat holes in the wall. Unfortunately, it only goes as far as the third floor. The two floors above it have yet to have been mapped. We lost twenty ristamak getting just this far."  
  
Chapter 205 (by Nefret) Hours latter Mozenrath had done his best to describe the structure of the last two floors as he remembered them. It had been SOOO long ago and things had no doubt been rearranged, but basic passages and rooms might have stayed in tact. Plans were made, weapons loaded and it was decided the group would leave the comfort and relitive pertection of the city and caravan towards the citadel the next day. Outside the modern city the deserts were still harsh and untamed, it could take most of the day just to set foot into black sand again. The air of the mansion was thick, everyone was nervous, if they showed it or not. They knew the danger they were barreling towards at full speed. It was just like another Distane in their path, but this time the trouble wouldn't come for them, they would go to it. They might not come back and they knew it.  
  
The gang had split themselves along the castle. Each taking the peaceful night for their own and possibly last. It was a good night for it two Laura noticed she looked up at the stars. She sighed and let the garden dirt run though her fingers and Kal peeked out into the garden.  
  
"There you are, should have know." Kal sat down beside her and Bonny promptly placed her head in Kal's lap and whined. Both girls were silent for a long while. "You nervous?" Kal finally asked  
  
"Hell yes." Laura stated bluntly.  
  
"I'd be worried if you weren't" Kal laughed and sat back. "You scared?"  
  
"Can't tell though the butterflies." Lore smiled her one sided smile. "You?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Of course not."  
  
Mozenrath Nefret and Chroias sat in the living room. Mozenrath was mulling over the Citadel floor plans as his lover polished her weapons. Nefret, true to form, was using food as an excuse to take her mind off more pressing matters.  
  
Mozenrath sighed as he set down the papers. "My palace has changed so much." He grumbled. Chroias set down her blade and smoothed Mozenath's shoulder.  
  
"Something's never change." The demoness smiled gently taking ahold of his hand. "Never, change." She repeated and placed her head on his shoulders. Mozenrath's eyes darted to Nefret and grimaced.  
  
Nefret sighed getting the point she was the third wheel in the room. "I'm going to get a bath before bed." The Egyptian excused herself.  
  
Mozenrath's eyes followed her to the door. He could tell by the shrug in her shoulders his minion was feeling the effect of the stress. "Nef." He caught her before she opened the door. Nefret turned around expectantly. "Sleep well." Was all he could muster. Mozenrath wished he could tell her something else, that he was sure everything would be all right and to leave all fear behind. But he couldn't, because he wasn't sure, and at a time like this lying did no good.  
  
"Goodnight my lord. Goodnight Roais." Nef smiled before leaving the room. Outside Don was already waiting for her by her door.  
  
Chroias sighed and snuggled into Mozenrath's side. "Nefret had a good idea there. Lets catch a bath before bed." The demon looked up and grinned.  
  
*****  
  
The sun spread through the mansion the next morning. The fist shown in Kal's face, then into the next room, Laura's chambers. Slowly as both girls drew a deep breath and stretched the beams crept into the bedroom of Nefret waking her and Don and a moment later did the same for Chroias and Mozenrath. Everyone opened their eyes simaniously and immediately wished for the dark to settle back down and give them just a few more hours of peace. But none was to be had that day or the day until they accomplished their task or died trying.  
  
Chapter 206 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath managed to find his way over to Kal as they were setting up other equipment. Nox had been so kind as to drop off Kal's black Suzuki motorcycle and the girl was patting it lovingly. "I've had this thing since I was fifteen." She said sensing Mozenrath walk up behind her. "She's my baby." Amshak hopped up on his Mistress's arm and purred for comfort. "He say's he's coming with us weather we want him to or not."  
  
Mozenrath smiled at the cat and it gave him a knowing grin. "You tell him everything don't you?" he said suddenly.  
  
"Of course. He know's all and tells nothing. Why do you think no one but me can hear him speak." Kal kissed Amshak and the cat purred gently.  
  
"So is he the only cat you can speek to?" Mozenrath remembered his mother and his own ability to speak to anything feline. Perhaps Kal was his descendent, he looked at her and could see much of himself staring back. The drawn back eyes, the pale skin and long face. The same confidence that bordered on vanity which always masked his face shone brightly on hers. Her skinny almost malnutrition body and for the first time he took notice of how much thinner her right hand was then her left.  
  
"Actually, I can speak to most cats." Kal said and tore Mozenrath from his thoughts. "I never thought about it much before though. They just kinda spoke to me and when I answered back it made sense."  
  
Mozenrath nodded his head thoughtfully. He stayed a moment more, watching her check the gears and gauges, then slowly slinked back into the shadows.  
  
Laura smiled at Nox as he brought out a hover disk. "You put your feet here see." He indicated the straps on the two disks. "They attach onto you and then you can direct the movements left ,right ,sideways , backwards, or forwards." He got on them to show her and the plates, (simple circular disks made of silver) hovered about a foot or two off the ground. "You friend over there explained your condition to me and I thought this would be just the thing."  
  
Laura thanked him and made it obvious that she wanted to give the thing a try. Hopping as best she could up onto the circles, the straps clamped down on her and she found that Nox had spoke the truth, she could adjust herself as she pleased. "Not bad, certainly less bulky then that wheelchair."  
  
Nefret was speaking with Don in a corner as he showed her his pride and joy, a car just big enough for two. "I love this beauty. And it's got plenty of backseat space for if we survive this thing." He hinted in her ear. Nefret giggled and then subdued herself. "We gotta survive first." She jerked her finger over to Mozenrath. "And after we do, who knows how quickly he's gonna wanna go back."  
  
Don looked like he was about to say something. He took a big breath, he'd wanted to say this with her for a while now. She was the first person who'd ever been willing to accept the changes he'd gone through. The scars on his body hadn't bothered her when they were together at night. He wasn't sure if it was love on that level yet, but there was something there, something that Don was positive with time could grow very strong. "Nefret, when this is all over, I was hoping perhaps you'd like to stay."  
  
"All right people." Kal called at everyone. "Let's head 'em up and move 'em out!"  
  
  
  
Chapter 207 (by Nefret) The sand rose in a tan cloud under the kick of the wheels of the strange caravan that roared down the ancient, makeshift road trenched in the desert. The harsh purr of Kal motorcycle headed the gang. Laura followed on the disks having entirely too much fun playing a sort of sideways chicken with her friend. Nefret laughed at the girls as they followed in Don's car. Don seemed distant, Nef hadn't said anything after Kal interrupted his confession. She had just grabbed the claws and hopped in the car. Don finally looked over, Nefret smiled at him, a sort of god- help-us kind of smile. He grinned and wrapped his arm around the back of her seat. Moze growled from behind the wheel of the armory truck he drove at the rear of the little sports car. Chroias shook her head but was cut off from saying anything as Bonny bounded up from the back of the truck onto her lap. The gang as a whole seemed excited in a way, each, maybe for the exception of Nefret, was born for the heat of battle, and even the priestess had gotten a bit of the love of fight in her blood since her time with her master. The cloud of sable dancing behind the vehicles suddenly darkened as black sand was thrown up under the tires. It seemed an ominous sign, the dark cloud they trailed as they swept over desert boarder  
  
Moze smiled almost insanely as his hands clamped over the steering wheel of the truck he had only learned to drive that morning. "Home sweet home."  
  
****  
  
Xerxes lounged in the Citadel library at a window seat overlooking the east end of the desert estate. The slimly little brat had grown considerably since he had last been seen, both in length and girth. It seemed he had been eating well these past few hundred years. He groaned, still lightly asleep. Slowly smells drifted to his brain. Magical smells. First the electrifyingly clean smell of storm magic, then the over-turned- garden kind of earthy sent that was Earth sorcererory. The eel opened his eyes and stuck his nose out the window. A new smell, spicy, hot, fire magic. The eel look a bit interested but none to concerned, magic ran like water around here. It was the next smell that struck fear in him, artificial magic. First of an unfamiliar kind, then the unmistakable smell of synthetic magic he had known a long time ago. The rich smoky smell of a ring Nefret had worn. A sent he always attributed with her the way a man might attribute his wife with her favorite perfume. As if he wasn't shook up enough two new terrifying smells hit him next. Demon magic, a very specific demon, shockingly cutting with a slight green tang. Most recognizable of all, the unique dark consuming aura of Mozenrath's power. All the scents, new and recognized swirled in his mind. 'They're coming back.' With a yelp the eel fled down the hall to the library.  
  
"What it be?" called a heavily accented woman voice as the eel came crashing into her library.  
  
Chapter 208 (by Kalynn) An unfamiliar woman sat at the top of the ill used throne that had once belonged to Mozenrath. Her features were so dark as to be considered ebony, her head was bald and glistened with the sweat that came after a just finished spell. Slowly her head rose as she saw the eel. Her eyes were a frightening gray-tan with pupils so small they were almost nonexistent. Her cheekbones were high and her face held a proud, almost noble glow to it that was well associated with noble rank. She was a discernibly handsome woman, until she bared her teeth that closely resembled a demon's. Her ears were pointed as her teeth, many people would confuse her for one of the damned hell minions. But Xerxes knew the truth. Chinadas was a half-breed. Father had been human from the Creole mix so common in Louisiana, and the mother had been a demon from Africa. Those gray-tan eyes burrowed into his mismatched ones. "I say what it be Xerxes?" She had a voice full of hatred and oblivion. For that was her power, the power of oblivion. Her abilities were similar to Chroias's in the fact that they varied. She could take her ability from Tarturus and Purgatory itself. And enjoyed the feeling that came with it. That was part of the reason Xerxes had been accompanying her. She'd gotten him out of where that bitch his master slept with sent him.  
  
"Strangers approaching." Xerxes gestured out the window. "Magical, powerfull." His voice had grown better in the fact that it no longer grated one's ears out when he spoke but hissed softly like a snake in a child's crib, inviting one to play with his pretty scales.  
  
Chinadas's face showed a glow of greed. "How powerful." Her thick accent drawled as she began to rise from the throne. Xerxes dodged his eyes. His new mistress's dress was as different as her speech. In fact her dress wasn't really a dress, but red, green, black, orange, and yellow rags artfully arranged as to cover only the most obvious parts. Xerxes sighed, in his day it would have been considered sluttish. Very sluttish, but as she had given him a good home and this was no longer his day, Xerxes did little complaining.  
  
"Four sorcerers, one human".. He paused knowing Chinadas's aversion to her own kind. "And one demon, full blood."  
  
The gray-tan eyes glowed angrily. "A full blood. De sorceras no gonna be a problem.." her accent arched and twisted in ruthless intelligence. "De human gonna be even less a one, but full blood demon, may be a trouble a commin." Chinadas walked over to the window. "Not even got da sense to do dis thin properly!" she snarled out at the desert. "I'sa gonna show dem hows ta take out an enemy." Her hands reached into the air as a green, yellow ,and orange fire streaked out from them. It gathered in a cloud and hovered as though awaiting command. "Nesnas" Chinadas commanded. "Nesnas, I call yeah to me!!" The smoke and fire screeching in unholy fury and plunged into the desert sands racing after the on coming challengers. Chinadas laughed viciously. "That aughta give em second thoughts."  
  
Mozenrath stopped the car as everyone began to pull out, armed with weapons. "Are we ready to do this thing?" he questioned as Chroias began to close the car door.  
  
"THUMP"  
  
"Roi did you have to shut it so hard." He turned to she Chroias's hand still on the handle.  
  
"THUMP"  
  
Everyone readied their weapons. "Anybody care to tell us what that is?" Kal said looking pointedly at Mozenrath. "Like say anybody forget to warn us about undead servants."  
  
Mozenrath shook his head. "The mumluks were specifically under my control, no one else has the ability to use them."  
  
"THUMP"  
  
"It's getting closer" Don whispered as he and Nefret were back to back.  
  
"THUMP"  
  
Laura turned and screamed as a man, or half a man, came lumbering after her from the ground.  
  
"Nesnas!" Chroias screamed and backed away.  
  
Nesnas were some sort of man. But a very odd sort. There bodies were hole, on a level. Half the body was clothed in skin and flesh, but the other seemed only half there, the skin was gone to revel muscle and sinew as well as veins. Even half a groin was visible on some. Their eyes glowed the same undead yellow as a mumluks and they trotted on like the undead minions do. There were twenty-five, at least circling around the small group and all of them wanted one thing. Blood!  
  
Chapter 209 (by Nefret) The entire gang swallowed back their disgust and fear and locked and loaded their weapons. With an ungodly howl the Nesnas fell into positioned and barreled forward quickly closing the gap. Kal smashed one in the face with the butt of her gun. No soon was that one dispatched then another one fell on her, it growled and clawed with all the desperation of a starved dog. Kal's nose wrinkled in pain at the small marks forming on her body. She pulled out a deceivingly tiny gun from her belt, barley cradling it between her fingers she produced a blast so big that only dust remained of her attacker. "I love this thing." She smiled at the noisy cricket, taking her mind off the action for a moment in sheer admiration.  
  
Don felt Nefret push against his back sending the barrel of his gun more deeply into the attacking Nesnas. He took the opportunity to kill it off and looked back to see how Nef was doing. He was disturbed to see the grotesque fingers of a Nesnas digging into her shoulders, small rivers of blood forming. The smell of blood only intensified the feral attack of the Nesnas.  
  
Nef was desperately trying to block out the pain to recall the spell that would ignite the claws power. "Den. Dan.." her head was swimming with to many thoughts, the pain, the thought of death... Finally frustrated her hand jutted out blindly and sliced three neat slices in the Nesnas. Giving up on the spell she hooked the crocks of the claws in the chest of her attacker and used all her strength to fling him away. When the thing was on the ground and danger subsided her brain was able to work well enough to recall the spell. "Danteum!!!" She screamed just as the thing stood up and lunged at her. It exploded in flames just inches way from her face. Don kicked it way, not feeling the burning heat. He pulled Nefret to him as a ring of fire exploded around the two.  
  
Laura wobbled as she blasted a Nesnas just inches way from her, the kickback unsteadying the disks. Another one was only seconds away, running at full tilt, mouth agape in a primal scream. Seeing a fine opportunity the Celtic dropped a small ball down the open mouth. Even the Nesnas seemed confused for a moment at the new weight in its stomach. It looked up to Laura as she smiled laughingly and waved goodbye. An explosion sent Nesnas parts for miles around. The kickback of his weapon was too strong and sent the girl right to the ground. The hover disks fired and sputtered, desperately trying to right themselves, but it was no use, like a turtle on it's back. Worse yet was the Nesnas who noticed the helpless girl, like a lion on a wounded gazelle. The green-eyed girl dug her fingers in the sand and screamed, "TACRE!!!" responding to her call the earth long buried under the black sand came flying to the surface for a moment only to fall back down leaving a gaping cavern. Blind in the search of their pray the Nesnas seemingly willingly plunged into the hole.  
  
Mozenrath growled angrily as he used both his gun in the left hand and the gauntlet on the right to ward off the advancing army. He, for some reason or another seemed to be a popular target. Three bodies of Nesnes littered the ground around him. It's strange the thoughts that ran through his mind, on one end he was mentally cursing each and everyone of his attackers, on the other hand he kinda whished he had a fleet of these things himself. Hell they seemed ten times as effective as his own mumluks. If her had some of these things a few hundred years ago Agrabah would have been his on the fist attempt. Mumluks. that thought rung in this busy mind. Were they any left? Diverging his power from the gauntlet for a moment the send the signal. He half smiled, half cursed as only 10 or 11 mumluks rose from the sands. They were the remnants of his great army, the rest of the soldiers taken out a long time ago. Loyal as ever to their perspective masters the two undead armies clashed. It was no surprise to the sorcer to see his very last mumluks fall under the numbers of the Nesnes. With the fence of mumluks gone the Nesnes seemed to grin in triumph as they swarmed around Moze. The sorcerer gulped.  
  
Nefret let out a gasp and Don gave an angry yell as three of the creatures jumped the ring of fire in a great leap, the flames coming so close that if they had not reached just an centimeter or so in height as they did they would have been scorched from the flames. Kal gave a half yell, half growl as a Nesnes attacked from the front and one from the rear. Even the noisy cricket couldn't do double duty and she soon found herself being pulled to her knees. Overhead the clouds gathered to bush against each other and rain came beating to the ground. Laura had just about righted herself when an arm caught the rim of a disk and set her off balance again. Looking down she could see a soul Nesnas clinging to the edge of the cavern threatening to pull her in with it. She cried and dung into the sand as she was slowly inched to the mouth the cavern she had created. Mozenrath to had found himself out numbered.  
  
Chroias had been having a relatively easy time compared with the others. With her strength, power, and grace under pressure she had been able to keep with the numbers of her attackers. She was truly a wicked sight in battle, teeth extended, eyes lit, claws dangerously long, and cat like muscles stretching in sinewy movements as she fought. This seemed to almost dissuade some of the Nesnas. The cries, yells, and desperate growls of her comrades made the demon flash out of her sheer state of concentration. Everyone was at the end of their ropes, outnumbered, and out of luck. The demons eyes flashed blindly bright at the situation, all her loved ones so near death under the attack of these damnable creatures. A growl registered so deep in her gut it was almost unworldly as green threads shot from her in all directions. In her sheer state of blind concentration the threads formed patterns, netting together leaving only a tiny gap around each of her comrades. If any of them were to move just a hair they would be zapped. Luckily none of them moved and those outside of the tiny safe havens in the net of stinging threads, namely the Nesnas, were hit with a charge great enough to incinerate them.  
  
Everyone was still for a moment as the threads retracted back to Chroias and the dust of Nesnas blew away. Finally everyone let out a sigh of relief.  
  
Chinadas turned off the monitor that had a moment before broadcasted the battle. Xerxes gulped nervously and swam behind the chair awaiting the woman's reaction. Husky laughing met his ears. "Dat I ave to mit be impesive. Yea, that it be.." The woman nodded and stood. "Deth comed close it did to 'e magic holders, closer it come to de human. De full blood, she be me defeat. In dis battle.." Chinadas added. "Let dem come 'pon us den. Me thinks I like to see de face of you old master hen he sets eye 'pon thee, Xerxes." Chinadas glidded away from the room as Xerxes nearly fainted. at the thought.  
  
Chapter 210 (by Kalynn) Chinadas walked about the citadel, pacing, looking much like Mozenrath in doing so. "Desa smart ones dem." She murmured as Xerxes flew/paced with her. "In take 'am out, but it'z gonna be 'ard. And I don' like de idea of a full blood in me house." She continually paced, as the sound of her visitors grew closer. "Bastards is already 'ere."  
  
She growled and spread her magic about her in a protective circle. "I wait here for 'em to come 'round." She gave Xerxes glare. "You go an' be sure dey find da right way. Wouldn't want 'em getin' lost." A dry, cackling laugh rose up around the citadel, and Xerxes smiled.  
  
'Just like old time.' Thought the eel.  
  
Chroias sniffed the air, her red eye's glowing in the darkness. "Well at least she hasn't changed the decor." A half laugh came from Mozenrath as her kept close to her. He had a question preying on his mind, about Kal. Slowly he whispered the possible situation in her ear and the demoness stopped short. "You joking."  
  
Mozenrath shrugged. "She does look a bit like us. Red hair and blue eyes aside." It's always a possibility Roi. If magic can teach one anything it's that." Mozenrath watched as Kal and Laura headed the team. Slowly Kal bent over to assess the damage to the disks. "They're fucked." She muttered under her breath and began immediately fiddling with the gadgetry. "I could fix 'em, but I don't have any of the right kind of equipment with me." She looked over at Mozenrath. "Can't you do anything?"  
  
It was the same tone he used with Nefret constantly and for split moment, Mozenrath could feel himself in her. The temptation to speak up about the possible heritage between them was tempting, but this was not the proper time. He could see however that Chroias was about to and placed a quick hand to her hindquarters to silence her. Ignoring the surprised look she gave him, he nodded and gestured, then stopped. "I don't think it would be a wise idea to waist our power until absolutely necessary."  
  
Kal looked like she was about to snap back at him when Laura moved forward. "He's right, we can't waste our power. Not when were so close to the goal." She pointed over to a candle holder against the wall. "Bring me that, it'll serve well enough until I can get something better."  
  
Nefret retrieved the object and Don moved over to beside Mozenrath. "Wise decision amigo." He nudged the sorcerer who gave him a half smile. "I do not like this place one bit. Reminds me far to much of the ristamak interrogation rooms." He gave Mozenrath a meaningful look and the sorcerer found himself beginning to agree.  
  
Nefret helped Laura up onto the thing while the two talked. "Hourus I hope Moze doesn't try to fry him." She whispered under her breath.  
  
"He won't. It wouldn't be worth the magic until we get outta here." Laura saw Kal mouth the words 'If we get outta here' She gave her friend a glare. "When we get out of here." Kal scoffed and held out her hand. Laura took it and she found herself standing with the candleholder for support.  
  
Nefret shook her purple head. "She reminds me so much of Mozenrath." Suddenly the plum headed girl noticed the way Laura turned when she said that. A slow realization began to creep up on her. She looked from Kal to Mozenrath , then back to Kal. "Nooo." She whispered.  
  
"It's only a possibility. And she get's damn touch when it's brought up. I know I know." she said hastily as Nefret gave her a 'who does that remind you of' look. "But do not, I repeat do not bring it up in front of her now. We'll figure out the whole situation after we get out of here."  
  
Xerxes hurried around the halls of the Citadel. He was hot on their trail and a sadistic grin spread over his face. Master was gonna get it, him that demon bitch and that little minion!!!! The other's meant nothing to him, but he wouldn't complain at seeing them roasted either.  
  
Chapter 211 (by Nefret) As the gang made their way down the hall carefully Nefret found herself slowing down to join Mozenrath. With a slight hum she studied his features, ones she was well acquainted with by now, only this time she started to compare them with those of Kal. 'Damn. The plot thickens.' Nef thought as the similarities glared back at her. Funny, they were obvious yet you'd never see them if you weren't looking. Moze glanced over just in time to catch the look of enlightenment spread over his minion's countenance as she looked from him to the girl Kal.  
  
"Damn you girl." He hissed over to her. "How the hell do you find out EVERYTHING I prefer to keep private?" He glared at her, despising the knowledge of his life she no doubt held in that mousetrap mind of hers.  
  
Nefret smiled a knowing smile. "A little bird told me." She risked the snotty jib before rushing off to join Don just ahead of them.  
  
Moze growled, a noise that left no doubt as to his thought. "Be nice." Chroias half clung to his arm, half held him back. "You don't want any dieing regrets now do you?"  
  
"Oh and aren't we being optimistic?" He gave a snarling smile at his lover.  
  
"You love to push it don't you?" Don inquired of Nefret as she joined his side.  
  
"Only our way."  
  
"Am I the only one who hears that?!" Kal finally yelled as if she was extremely annoyed no one had comment before on the hissing noise that had been in her ears for a few moments. Laura stopped and her face darkened as she nodded.  
  
"You hear only me." Came a voice of snakelike innocence from above. Mozenrath, Chroias, and Nefret felt their throats clench as they looked up to a familure face on a ballooned body. A face that had haunted their waking hours and later their minds, the face a betarl, Xerxes. The eel smiled at the recongision on his old 'friends' faces. "hello master, bitch, tramp." A sick sort of satisfaction was brought by their insulted faces.  
  
Don noticed Nefret's clenched fists and Mozenrath darker than usual face. "I take it you know the overgrown grub?" Xerxes didn't take to kindly the insult. With a his he dove at Don pulling up at the last minuet and scurried franticly over Moze, Rio and Nef as their hands clawed the air in an effort to lay a hand on him. Nefret's claws coming dangerously close to his soft underbelly. Maybe the little insult on her virtue was a mistake.  
  
Xerxes smiled when he looked back to see the entire gang giving chase, even those faces unknown to him looked equally mad as those of Mozenrath and his two bitches! A twisted pride swelled in the eel chest, he was bringing his mistresses want to her. He would be rewarded, be appreciated, he needed that. Xerxes had known nothing but service, he had always equated completing his job with love. He depended on the acceptance of his master or mistress to bring him purpose and self worth. Without someone's acceptance he was nothing.  
  
"Does it occur to anyone that were may be running wholeheartedly into a trap?!" Kal breathed out between the labor of her gait.  
  
"Of course it's a trap." Moze counted with a snarl as if it was the stupidest question in the world. "Lets face it, the Citadel is HERS now." He had to look away for a moment, the admittance that he had lost his domain, his true hold on power, stung, badly. "We're never going to meet her on our own grounds, she will have the upper hand. We'll fight on her terms and ground of choice no matter what. We mise well accept it and meet her challenge."  
  
Kal shook her head, she didn't agree with the risk, but it was to late now. They came skidding to a halt in the throne room. Laura hobbled in a moment latter, not being as fast as everyone. Everyone felt the pit of dread in their stomach fall to their feet. Chinadas stood before them in all her power. Before this mission seemed rather remote, they could easily distract themselves with other thoughts. Now the cold hard deadly truth stood only feet way. And in a very freighting form might I admit. Chroias picked up on the new demon blood right way, it set her own blood jagged and she instinctively fell on the defense. Nefret noticed the way her friends eyes flashed and her lips pushed away slightly at the emergence of fangs. It was an oddly comforting sight. At least is was for anyone on Chroias's side. Chinadas did like the look of the demon one bit. She was lithely with a dark elegance, obviously a demon of high order and breed.  
  
Chinadas pushed aside her thoughts for a moment. "Who be you? Be you fool 'nough to be acoming 'afor me? Dis I find a grave insult 'pon me and my. Ai, but you be knowing dis, dat be why you come." She smiled. "Oh, you will 'ave to pay dearly for dis.. You be me zombie slaves and pay for you insolence for all time!!!" Her voice raised in pitch and with a sudden elaborate gesture of his hands a cloud of smoke emanated form her. It's narcotic tartness hitting the noses of the gang instantly. Mozenrath, having knowledge in all fields of magic knew the art of voodoo well enough to recognize the drug mixture voodoo shamans used to gain control of their victims and reduce them to mindless servants. Fear spread in him as in almost slow motioned the girls and Don watched as the cloud approached unaware their very breath would spell doom.  
  
Chapter 212 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath instinctively held up his hands and an illuminated bubble fell upon the crowd as Chinadas's gas flew towards them. "Did she really think it would be that easy?" he glanced at Chroias who shook her head.  
  
"No this is her way of toying with us. I used to pull the same thing on my torture victims. Let then think I didn't have the power to hurt them, lull them into self-confidence. See it especially work on.." the demoness suddenly realized that the rest of the people were looking at her with slightly green faces. "Sorry, kind of a demon thing." She heard a low, deadly laugh ring through the halls as Chinadas began to walk quietly down the steps of the throne.  
  
"Wel wel." She grinned and touched the protective barrier with a single foreclaw."So you gots som good magi I see." She traced the barrier causing a chalkboard noise and causing a bright light to streak along with her claw. "but ya can stay der foaeva. Com out lita pure blood! Com out an I send ya bac to ell!" she taunted.  
  
Mozenrath held Chroias back as she answered the taunts with a hawk like screech. "Bitch.. half breed. You even send out an eel to do your dirty work for you! What's the matter Chinadas? To afraid of a pure blood!"  
  
Chinadas's eyes flashed brilliantly at Chroias and she bared her own fangs, growling lowly. Suddenly, a slow sadistic smile came up on her face. She began tracing the barrier between them, inch by inch. "Not alla you ae sorcerers." She eyed Nefret. "Fact I thin I know which one." With no warning her screech tearing a violent hole through the barrier, Don grabbed for Nefret and hung on to her leg as Chinadas pulled violently on the other end.  
  
Chroias grabbed hold of her friend as Mozenrath began trying to widen the hole in the barrier."Let go of her you bloody bendeho." Don yelled at the demon.  
  
Kal grabbed Mozenrath's shoulder. "Get the damn thing open before she pull her out."  
  
Mozenrath shook his head furiously. "She's posed it somehow, that damn claw of hers disrupted my magical flow! Hold her off until I can take it over again!" he distinctly heard Kal growl something like "utterly useless" and watched as she turned and made the wind pick up about her. Immediately the atmosphere changed, rain began coming in torrents about the large windows of the Citadel and Kal's eyes rolled up into the back of her head, showing only the whites. Her teeth bore in a horrid parody of a wolf and the rain began to swirl about Chinadas. The demoness screamed as the power flung her against the wall. Unfortunately the brute strength of a storm is not for pinpoint accuracy, as Chinadas fell back Nefret did as well.  
  
"Don't even think about it!" the plum haired girl yelled as she whirled with her claws and yell.. "Danteum!" the claws fired and Chinadas dodged lithely to one side.  
  
"Fool!" she struck out with her own claws taking a slice out of Nefrets arm. Just as she reared back to strike again, a banner of fire blasted her to the side, the smell of singed flesh covered the area as Don ran to her side.  
  
"Do NOT try that again!" he snapped at Chinadas and began to cover Nefrets wound with a strip of cloth.  
  
Chinadas spun with a crazed look on her face and flung a her purplish fire at them again. "Ass's pigs heads!! I make you all into me damn swamp barons!!" the fire caught Laura in the stomach, sending her sprawling to the floor.  
  
"You chose the wrong one to mess with!" she yelled and flung her power into the ground. The floors began to crack and black sand began to wave through, gathering together, but just as suddenly, it fell back to the floor. "What's going on!" Laura yelled and tried again to raise her powers.  
  
It's part of being the Ruler of the Black Sands. You own the land and it's properties." He shot a short blast of power at Laura. "That will help you keep control, but I don't know for how long." The barrier he'd been supporting sank back into the ground and Mozenrath turned to assist his friends.  
  
Chapter 213 (by Nefret) Moze gasped Kal's shoulder bringer her out of her trance. She blinked and her pupils returnd to their rightful position. They looked at each other, a plan apparent and understood in Mozenrath's eyes. A few quick words and they set off in their separate directions. Kal to Laura and Mozenrath slid over to his lover and his minion. Don was busy in a futile attempt at exchanging fiery blows at the half demon. Chinadas was easily dogging his angry attempts at noble revenge and laughing all the way. Since she had been given up as the most powerful sorcerer in the world it had been a long time since anyone was fool enough to challenge her. It was. interesting.  
  
Moze caught Roais just before she spung into the heat of battle. "I know it's tempting to just go in there and.." He dug a fist into his gloved hand. "but I think I've got a plan. On three we all barrel in there and invade every single one of her senses."  
  
"I thought the plan was NOT to jump in their and." Nefret hit her fist againt her palm with a sarcastic twich of her eyebrows.  
  
"Ah, but this Nef, is planned chaos." Mozenrath smiled in a way that made the hairs on the girls neck stand up. "You over take her hearing sence. You good at that." Moze quipped pulling slightly at the wrapping of his minions arm to acess the damage. "Roi you pack the hardest punch, get in as many as you can. Don and I will block her view." He looked to the girls for confirmation they were ready, willing, and trusting. Chroias nodded whole-heartedly. Nef's head tilted and her lips pulled into a slight smile as if to say 'I guess there's nothing better to do.'  
  
Kal scrunched down by Laura and told her the plan. She seemed skeptical for a moment but she nodded and ran her hands on the floors in wait. Mozenrath had organized his band for his part and they were hard at work closing in on Chinadas. If they had gone one by one none would have made it a foot within the half breed without being toasted but with all of them falling into sudden formation around her. Each blast Chinadas emulated one of them was followed by a return fire from one of the untargeted sorcerers. None reached her and no one got very close to her. But the point of this wasn't to successfully assault her physically, but to assault her senses with an onslaught of distraction. Moze, Don and Chroia's magic blasted, and reflected around her preventing any movement. The roaring sound of fire, whoosh and crackle of magic and Nefret's annoying angry cries as she ran up, claws drawn flooded the pointed ears of Chinadas. The view of sorcerers all around here, running forward, falling back, flying back in some cases only to claw their way back up and take another stab at it blocked her entire field of vision. They were causing no more harm than flies on a horse, but just as annoying and attention consuming as those pests. And just like flies under the swats of the horses tail they were having more and more coming back after being hit. Don was near put out of commission as a whoosh of power threw him back. Nef was tiring and her wound was bleeding out profusely weakening her.  
  
The entire scope of Chinadas attention was aimed at the offending sorcerers can she had clean forgot there were still two that had been unheard from. Kals' eyes had rolled back again, her shoulders quivering a bit in sheer stain as she drove the rain in horizontally trough the windows. The ground fought Laura, resisted her insistent will as she tried to force it apart. Chinadas was so busy she didn't even consider to monitor her land. She couldn't have known to tell it to hold. Laura took advantage of this as she enforced her will which, at the moment, was much stronger then Chinadas's to force a crack in the floor. Small at first then denting at the window. The rain spilled in collecting in the newly made pool. Racking her fingernails a crack split itself from the pool slowly snaking to the direction of the fight. A little river creeping under Chindas feet. Oh the ground fought it!  
  
"Now!" Laura cried as soon as the river splashed over Chinadas bare foot. The gang fell back as Kal threw her head back and a white-hot finger of lighting bolted in from the window sticking and electrifying the new body of water.  
  
Buzzing sounds rang out, the charged water crackling and jumping. A bright light forced everyone's eyes shut. When they were opened the gang looked up to see a strange blue-white glow radiating from Chinadas. She grinned as the charge flooded her fingertips. "Thank you little ones. Now I 'ave a give for you!"  
  
Chapter 214 (by Kalynn) Chinadas's head swiveled around and she glared at the pure blooded Chroias. "Wel wel wel!" her head tilted back and she laughed insanely. "Nev dought I'd see da dae dat a puur bloud got take'n down by a half bread."she gathered her power in one violent motion and launched the blot of energy at Chroias.  
  
Mozenrath knew he heard a screem, but what he didn't realize was that it was his own. Everything flashed so brilliantly for a moment that everyone, including Chinada's went blind. Mozenrath scrambled madly, searching for Chroias's key life signatures. He locked on to a faint tacking of power that was demon and saw a hint of green through the haze. "Roi." he whispered faintly as her body came into view. Tearing across the marble floors he grabbed her hand and looked into the almost dead crimson eyes.  
  
Nefret watched her master.no her friend touch the cheek of the demoness. She heard a whisper something so faint it was almost unintelligible. Then Mozenrath rounded on Chinadas. His eyes glowed almost as brightly as his lovers as his body started shaking. "What-did-you-do-to-her?" he questioned, his gauntleted fist clenching and unclenching.  
  
Chinadas threw back her head and laughed. "Da same ting, I sa gonna do to all ya." her grin was inhuman as she flung the next bolt at Kal. The storm sorceress screamed as the power hit her full force and the sound of bone hitting wall echoed in the acoustics.  
  
Kal landed hard, but flung her own power back at the half demon."take it you bitch." she snarled and smiled with an almost evil glee as Chinadas lost her breath.  
  
Nefret pushed Mozenrath away from Chroias. "Go! You can't help her any more then you have. I'm doing no good with a bad arm and your powers are more needed."  
  
Mozenrath turned and looked back at Nef and Chroias. "Nefret, don't you dare let anything happen to her." he growled at his minion.  
  
Nefret would have taken offence to it, but the worry in his eyes was far more then she could stand. "I won't let so much as a flea touch her Moze." she comforted the demoness head in her arms and felt relived as a heart beat met her palm. She pressed a friendly kiss to the demoness's head."Come on Roi, we could really use you right now."  
  
Laura hefted her weight onto one side of her body and used her stick to concentrate her power. The black sand gushed through the hole in the floor and surged in a wave after the half blood. Chinadas took the nasty end of it and sprawled on the floor. Her eyes glowing and her power re gathering immediately around her body. "Fool! All ya be folls! I gonna make you wish da nesnas had taken yea apart like fish!" her voice consumed the very air around them as she flung Laura through the air and launched her against the ceiling. "Now fo you!" she whirled on the sorcerer and flung her magic at him again.  
  
Mozenrath caste his own power into the air and blocked Chinadas's shot, both struggling to regain control.  
  
Chapter 215 (by Nefret) Nefret smoothed away Chroias's hair and examined her head, no blood. A cursory inspection of the rest of the demon proved no broken bones or open wounds. That however did not bode well. If it wasn't some external infliction that kept Roi's eyes closed then it had to be internal. A problem beyond the working of stitches and bandages. Nefret's mouth twitched as she suddenly leaned in closer. "Open up your eyes damn you!" She threatened as a certain demon had when she was on her own deathbed. It didn't have the same effect.  
  
Mozenrath felt the rage infusing in his power strengthen it. Don was trying to reassemble his fallen comrades but they seemed so far way as he crawled across the freezing floor. Kal's magic, even in her state, flowed around the room in the form of swift winds. Laura lay on the floor in a drowsy state, she had suffered a concision and was trying to keep from falling asleep even as every cell in her body pulled her under. Each time she thrust herself back awake the ground shook in aftershocks. This knocked a vase off its table, the shattered pieces only being swept up in Kal's storm. Nefret saw the razor sharp bits in time to throw herself over the fallen demon. True to her word she was going to protect her friend even if it meant a few scratches and imbedded bits of glass.  
  
Nef bit back the pain and did the only thing she could do now, pray. "Hathor hear me.."  
  
Don reached the girls and quickly brought them back to the waking world with a hard slap. The after shocks worsened for a moment then died as Laura calmed down. Kal slowly took down the wind as she examined the blood tricking from her nose.  
  
"My lord of healing Khensu Nefer-Hetep, I evoke thee." Nefret continued.  
  
Mozenrath assaulted the half-breed with a swift wave of power. She grunted as her face snapped over her shoulder but relayed with a slap of her own. Don gave a war cry as a ring of fire circled the gang making sure no one fled the arena. "No one is leaving until this is done!" He promised in a harsh whisper that was unlike him.  
  
Nefret remained bent over her friend. Unsure what internal injury she might have the girl could only cover all the bases. "Four sons of Horus I bid thee to me. Mesthi guardian of the liver."  
  
Chinadas laughed at the heat against her back, it was nothing to someone with hell demon blood in her veins. A sudden bolt sent Mozenrath to the ground and the gauntlet skidded across the ground. Chinadas grinned as she calmly started for the leather glove.  
  
"Hapi Guardian of the lungs." the Egyptian whispered breathlessly.  
  
Mozenrath growled when he realized the half-breed meant to take possession of his prized gauntlet. Skidding to his hands and knees he darted for the glove. But Chinadas would get their first and Kal could see it. A strong gust of wind easily blew the glove out of both their grasp.  
  
"Tuamutef guardian of the stomach."  
  
Now with the race for the gauntlet useless the half breed and Mozenrath darted their eyes back to each other. Moze pulled up his lip in sheer hatred and Chinadas smiled. The earth trembled indicating the Celtic was at it again. With a quick look in their direction Chinadas sent Kal, Don and Laura up against a wall and a high tech lever slapped over them, something like a large vertical mousetrap.  
  
"Qebsunf guardian of the intestines...."  
  
Moze spared a look at them before turning back to the hafling. She stood tall and proud. The young sorcerers were trapped under antimagic metal, the demon was out cold, the human minion was no competition, and the sorcerer was without his gauntlet. She was in control, she would deal the hand of death. Mozenrath snarled as the dark woman's chest heaved in silent laughter. "May you be scattered 'pon de wind." She raised her hand for the deathblow.  
  
Moze gulped. "May Allah help me in what I am about to do and may those I love forgive me for it."  
  
"I call thee to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nefret screamed with all her might.  
  
Mozenrath let the damn break. Bolts spilled from him. Without the focus of the gauntlet his magic ran wild and free. Blue-black threads roared in the air uncontrollable and untamed. She closest to him suffered the brunt of the power, Chinadas. Moze raised his hands, his finger splayed taught, his eyes wild and his head fell back as a roar escaped his throat and bounced off the walls. He was beyond the pain of it now, the rush was incredible. All civilized manner and human instinct fell away for a moment. The half demon screamed in sharp chorus to his feral cry as she covered her face and fell back into the fire circling them. Kal Grunted holding in her scream better than Laura and Don as stray threads licked over them. Nefret cried out at the cutting pain and her muscles went taught.  
  
With a grunt Moze fell to his knees and the wild magic died out in a flash. Those trapped beneath the antimagic bar let out a breath and let fell back against the wall taking in gulps of air. Nefret went limp over her friend for a moment before pulling herself into a heap just to the side. The sudden pressure was enough to make the demon stir and slide open her eyes a bit.  
  
Chapter 216 (by Kalynn) Chroias smiled lightly at her friend. "Who let the magic out?" she whispered in a horse voice and shakily tried to get to her feet. "Nef I have to help him." She fell to the ground and Nefret held her there.  
  
"Moze can do this without you all right! he just damn near knocked Chinadas out of commission so just reign yourself in." Nefret forced her friend to sit as she hugged her tight. "I'm glad your alive."  
  
"I wouldn't have died, not really, but!" She groaned and held a hand to her palm. "It's gonna be a while before Moze and I can go back to our nightly activitys." She grinned ruefully. "Oh damn but this is going to hurt."and whispered in cryptic Greece words.  
  
The floors began to shake as the demoness's eyes turned red, the gold, then a fiery combination of the both. Chinadas must have sensed something for she whirled on the pure blood her eyes glowing angrily. "You wouldn't DARE!!" she screamed with almost none of her original accent. "you too sweet to do it!"  
  
"Is that all you were depending on?" Chroias growled just as angrily as she stood in one swift movement and faced Chinadas. "Oh really you little bitch!" she snarled as her wings came into focuses. "You have underestimated my Chinadas. I am kind because I choose to be! Because I choose a different life from most of my kind does not mean that I have forgotten what I am!" The glow in her eyes swelled as a rush of fire flew from them. It's green intensity swirled around her in a hellish fit.  
  
Mozenrath as well as all the other magic creature recognized the signature of what was coming. "GET DOWN!!!!!!!!" Mozenrath yelled at the top of his lungs as everything else vanished away while Chroias Hell fire engulfed Chinadas, herself, and because she was too close, Nefret as well.  
  
Nefret could only make out the barest of what was happening between the two demonesses ,but that wasn't what her eyes were really on. It was the faces surrounding her. People, people from all over the world with ravaged faces stared and seemed to congregate around Chroias. They were vengeful spirits, ready to destroy and kill as she commanded them to and Nefret could only watch in horror as they flew at Chinadas. The demoness screeched as the flew at her, tearing the cloths from her body in pure force and flinging her against the wall while the bombardment continued. Somewhere in the haze, Nefret could hear Chroias still muttering the strange words and sending the spirits after Chinadas. Blood seemed to ooze from everywhere. The walls of green fire dripped with the crimson fluid and she Nefret back away as it crawled towards her. The blood had a mind of it's own and seemed determined to engulf her until Chroias's head snapped to the side, she flung her hand and the blood retreated, engulfing Chinadas instead.  
  
Chinadas screamed as she saw what was coming for her. "No! You can be doin dis!" her voice was desperate almost fearful. Her reptilian eyes begging in some wild way.  
  
Chroias's face was cold and without mercy."Yes Chinadas Restamvel Dismontiquea. I can." The blood crawled over Chinadas and a final scream of terror soared in the halls of flame as the human shaped blood flung Chinadas to the ground and began to wrap her tight.  
  
Slowly the walls of blood retreated and the Citadel came back into view. Chinadas still lay covered in the blood, screaming in evident agony. Chroias's eyes lost their evil light as she sank to the floor, being caught by Mozenrath as he smoothed her hair back. "Why did you do that Roi." He whispered and kissed her sun burned skin gently.  
  
"WHAT did you DO!?!?!?" Nef nodded to the screeching Chinadas on the floor, her eyes had become as big a saucers and her pupils had shrunk.  
  
Chroias leaned her head slowly over to her friend. "It's called the Spirit's Vengeance. A concentration of all the tormented souls in Hell. The Hell most mortals believe exists. It takes them and uses their fury for a demons purpose. Only two demons anywhere can cast it. Myself, and one other." She looked keyingly at Chinadas.  
  
"Then why didn't she cast it first?" Don asked , coming closer from where he was.  
  
"Because of what it causes, the pain." Chroias arched suddenly and closed her eyes. "It hurts so much and she was, so weak already!"  
  
Chroias gripped Mozenrath suddenly and he held on to her, the look in his eyes desperate worry. "It's alright." He smoothed her hair and held her body close to his. "It's over now." A small tear fell from his eyes as Chroias whined in pain. "I'm taking you home." He suddenly remembered their situation and realized he couldn't make that promise and keep it. Now was not the time however. Chroias was in pain, extreme pain. The bloody tears of a demon were streaming from her eyes and her body seemed ragged and limp. Her green hair was singed at the ends and the shivered racking her body told him she had to be freezing after that heat from the green flames.  
  
Kal came up from behind, touching her ancestors shoulder. "My friend can help her." she whispered gently. "He can do magical healing as well as the normal human ones."  
  
Mozenrath looked up at Kal. Seeing for one moment a kind of soft pity and quiet intelligence in her eyes that reminded him so much of Chroias. "All right." He whispered. "And when she comes around you and I have something to speak about." He whispered to himself in a worried tone.  
  
Chapter 217 (by Nefret) The demon was breathing steadily under a sedated sleep. Her wounds had been charmed into healing and the rendments of her last spell had been whipped away taking most of the pain with it. Under a pile of blankets she still seemed a bit singed but she was much better than she had been. While the pain dissolved the doctor saw fit to put her under. Chroias, the trooper she was, protested it all the way but with a nod from Mozenrath the good doc injected his unwilling patient with a good dose of sleeping medication. That had been more than 3 hours ago and Moze still sat embracing his lover's hand. The room was quite, everyone having been shooed away to be repaired and debriefed by Nox. Mozenrath placed his head down on the demons abdomen. He had refused medical care even after what he had put his body through. Stubborn mule.  
  
Nefret appeared at the door wondering if she should disturb him. She had just been released from the sick ward and with her arm bandaged, glass shards removed from her back and the shock of Mozenrath's bout of wild magic checked over. she felt. well maybe not 100% but she'd live. She bit her lip and entered. "How is she?"  
  
"Asleep." Moze looked up unsurprised by the sudden voice in the room. He had known Nefret had been in the doorway for some time. "But comfortable and... better off than she could have been." He raised his head to look at his minion. His face was ravaged by worry and exhaustion.  
  
"Told you I wouldn't let a flea touch her." Nefret gave him a mock haulty look. As she pulled the covers under the demons chin.  
  
Moze chuckled wearily. "So you did. I train my servants to be loyal." He jabbed then looked away. "What about you? You look like hell." The sorcerer grumbled slumping further in his chair now that Nefret was coddling his lover. "Thanks!" Nefret snorted and gave him a dirty look. She softened and looked away. "I look like hell because I've just seen it." They were silent for a while. "Go on then. I'll stay with her, you need to do... other things." Nefret made a shooing motion to the door.  
  
"No. I'm watching over her." He stood up and pushed Nefret aside to take her place at the demons side.  
  
"You trusted me to take care of her then. What's changed?" Nefret demanded. Mozenrath looked at her for a moment then down with a nod.  
  
"Ok, call if anything happens." He sighed and wearily started for the door.  
  
"My lord?" Nefret called just before he was out of sight. Mozenrath stopped but didn't bother to turn around. "All we have been though in the past year.. I'm tired and weary from it. I was never meant for this life.. I'm having a hard time..."  
  
"I know." Mozenrath interrupted. "We're all in the same boat Nef." He added before leaving to hunt down Kal.  
  
Nefret's face showed a bit disappointed as she turned back to her friend. She smoothed her singed hair. Two arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. She would have panicked if she hadn't seen the scars covering one of them.  
  
"Well looky here, we survived after all." Don whispered from behind here. "No if I recall we were going to do something if we lived.. What was that again?"  
  
"No, no. You're distracting me now. I have a job to do." Nefret scorned but didn't protest, as his grip got tighter. She pretended to fix the demons covers again even though they were in perfect order. Don could see she was trying to fool him and with a growl he started a relentless tickle campaign. "Oh no..Leave me alone!" Nefret growled out between unstoppable laughter. She was serious though and Don could tell.  
  
The fire mage pulled back slightly hurt by Nefret's rejection. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"  
  
Nefret didn't turn to face him. "Mozenrath is dying to get back home. He doesn't know how, but he'll find his way soon." Nefret mumbled regretfully. Don could see her shoulders visibly slump with the burned their relationship put on her. A conflict of interests and loyalties. "Nefret. I never meant to put you in this situation. I only meant to give you a choice. If you want to stay here I will fight any claim your master might have on you. I will physically fight if it comes down to it. And if you want to go... I wont say anything. It's your choice, I can't make it for you. You have a big decision to make."  
  
"And if I don't want to make it?" Nefret went a bit limp as Don wrapped his arms around her and tensed again as another voice rang out.  
  
"You have no choice but to decide." Chroias said in a voice still a bit weak.  
  
Nefret's head snapped up to the demon's face. Her eyes went wide when she encountered open crimson eyes filled with concern. "How long have you been awake?"  
  
Chapter 218 (by Kalynn) Chroias smiled and sat up a little. "Since the start of the conversation." She winced and rubbed her arm where the doctor had inserted the needle. "Damn. I hate needles." She looked again at her friend. "Nef, you know I'd love for you to stay with us, in fact I'd insist upon it. But it's your decision. Not mine. And you know if I play up to Moze he'll let you go."  
  
Nefret laughed. "Right now your not in a condition to do anything with Moze." She held up a glass of water and forced Chroias to sip.  
  
The demoness scrunched up her nose at the taste. "Ugh! What's in that stuff."  
  
Nefret smiled innocently. "Oh just something to help you get back to sleep." She caught the mock anger in Chroias's eyes. "Don't you give me that look! You know damn good and well you need all the rest you can get."  
  
Chroias laughed and held her stomach in pain. "Don't make me laugh Nef, really don't make me laugh." Her eyes dropped slightly and she moaned in sleep. Chroias lay back on the pillows as the drugs took effect.  
  
Nefret sighed and put her head in her hands. "What's with me?" she questioned herself. "Gods know I want to stay with Don. Chroias could certainly talk Moze into it! Well maybe." she reconsidered as she looked at Chroias's singed skin. Sighing she picked up a towel and washed it in a sink, bathing off the burns from Chroias's flesh. She could see where the effects of demon blood were already working on healing it up again, slow, but it was happening. "I mean I do have affection for Don, or maybe it isn't just that. Maybe it's just because I haven't been with a man since I became Mozenrath's prisoner. And no company of that sort can make a girl uncomfortable. But leave me home?" she rubbed off a black mark on Chroias's face. "Leave my time and never see it again? I have so much I still wanted to do. And Moze, poor Moze, how will he ever manage that Citadel without me?" she giggled lightly and looked at her friend. "Roi. We've become close then I'd ever have thought. True she will live forever. But can I wait that long to see her again?"  
  
  
  
*********************************************  
  
Kal flopped down in a chair beside's Mozenrath. "How's your girl holdin up?" she asked and pushed her mass of dreadlocks back from her head.  
  
"Fine just fine." He answered and looked up at her. "Damn but she does look an awful lot like me. Same bone structure, same eye shape and lips. But she's got Chroias's pale skin. And a bit of her body frame to. Lith ,but not to strong. Tall and agile." He smiled as Kal looked away. "I wonder if she get's her power from me?"  
  
Laura brought over some glass's of brandy and Kal drunk her's in one gulp. "Slow it down girl. You'll get shit faced." She warned and Kal smiled. Mozenrath almost fell off his chair as he noticed the pointed canines that marked another point in her favor.  
  
"I can afford it. I'm happy. For once our people have a chance to thrive." She poured herself another cup. "I've strove for this my entire life. No more digging off the streets and scrounging in the bins for just something to wear! No more having to guard our magic use to keep from being exposed. Laura, we have our freedom!" the smile on her face was beautiful and she tossed her head back. "I have a damn right ot be proud. So do you." she shoved Mozenrath slightly and gave him the first warm and welcoming smile he'd ever seen on her face.  
  
Mozenrath returned the smile and sank back to his drink. 'Are you going to bring it up or not?' half of himself demanded.  
  
'I dont see why I should. Besides I'm not totally convinced shed my descendent.'  
  
'Of what a load of camel dung! You know good and well she is! Look at her fool'  
  
Mozenrath inspected her once again. True enough, the resemblances were stunning. 'Still, so many generations away, will it make any difference if I told her. And still I have my suspicions'  
  
'Like?'  
  
'For one I think she already knows were decedents. Otherwise why would she have gone through all the trouble of erasing her past? Even from the people she trusts with her life?'  
  
'Because she is exactly like you!' Mozenrath grimaced. That made far to much sense.  
  
Chapter 219 (by Nefret) New as of 2-4-02  
  
Mozenrath looked to Laura and the Celtic immediately knew she was unwelcome. With some excuse about Bonny needing a walk she exited leaving them to their business.  
  
"Need a refill?" Moze offered Kal as she gulped down the dregs of her last glass. Kal smiled as her glass was filled again almost to overflowing. Moze smiled to, three drinks might just loosen her lips and bring down those barriers of hers. "I must admit, you did quite well back there, a fine display of control over your power.. It's to be expected though, with the stock you come from." He whipped innocently as the blush of brandy colored the girls cheeks.  
  
Kal visibly stiffed and even though the alcohol Moze could almost feel the gust of cold wind as the walls flew back up and locked. "Funny thing to say. You know nothing of my background. You don't know a thing about me!" She miffed and scooted away from him. "Alls you know you learned I the past few days, and I tell you there is nothing more you will learn either."  
  
"Well you couldn't of just sprang from the dust.. Must of come from some mother, some father, some grandparents and great grandparents and great great."  
  
"Yeah, I get the picture." Kal cut him off but made it very clear the conversation was over. Or at least that's the way she wanted it, Moze had other plans.  
  
"Oh I see." Moze nodded knowingly and looked way as if he was now done with the conversation.  
  
"Oh I see what?" Kal inquired sharply. She had given nothing that would make him so sure he had any idea about her or her past.  
  
"Oh I was just saying I understand why you're so secret about your past. Even to your little friend there. I see, I see." He raised his hand to silence Kal when she stated to sit up a bit to assure him whatever he was thinking was terribly wrong. "No, no. You don't have to say a word. I understand."  
  
"What the hell are you thinking sorcerer?!" Kal stood up to tower over him.  
  
"Your heritage, it must be very shameful." Moze shook his head almost sympathetically.  
  
"You think my family was a dirty bunch? You think I have the blood of whores and thieves in my vain. Do ya!!!?? Ha!" Kal spat before turning on her heals to he door.  
  
"No." Mozenrath's voice seemed to ring off the walls. Kal stopped her breath baited. "I think you have the blood of sorcerers and demons in your veins." Mozenrath's voice was daring and on the border of foolish. Kal whirled around with fists clenched in fist of rage. "I think you have my blood in those damn veins of yours."  
  
Kal could take no more. In a flurry of wind she struck out at the sorcerer. "Don't say such filth again!" To her surprise Mozenrath caught her hand easily and held her with little to no trouble.  
  
"Just under the surface here! There I am, there Chroias is, there's Zak or Tristram. All there all mixed together right in you." He growled out over the racked Kal was making as she struggled for control of her wrist. "I'm part of your blood, your skin, your mind, and yes, your liniage." Kal stopped struggling for a moment. Breathing heavily she met his eyes with ones full of distaste. "I'm part of you." Moze added in a quiet though forceful tone.  
  
"Never will I let YOU be a part of ME!" Kal's anger gave her strength to break away at the last word. Backing off while pointing viciously at him she continued. "Never, ever will I be a part of this bloody family!"  
  
"Bloody family?" Moze shook his head.  
  
"A family filled with evil and darkness and demonic stock, soaked in the blood of everyone you crushed to get were you are. I will not have MY name soaked in that same debauchery. I will not be like you!" Kal ended an a calm note. "I am different. Better."  
  
"That's all you see than, in this family? Don't you know every family has skeleton in the closet?" Moze cut off at the sharp look of Kal. "True this one may have more than others, but you must look at the big picture. What do the history books say of me? That I'm some ruthless satanic tyrant that would as soon cut your thought as to look at you? There is always truth in rumors." Moze sat down calmly. "I may not be a good man, but not whole heartedly evil either. Those book will never mention the good I have done, doesn't make an interesting story."  
  
"Good!!!" Kal dropped back her head in a laugh. "What good could you have in ya?"  
  
"Would a wicked man gain the love of a good woman for 7 years, would he love her? Could he possibly father children that turned out as pure hearted and kind as my own? Chroias, Zakurum and Tristram are all representations of my good side, my better side. Look at them can they be the product of evil? I am good somewhere, deep down, they are the proof. They are the only proof I need to know despite my best effort I am good yet." Moze gave a joking grin. Kal's eyes dropped in thought. "And Nefret." Moze went on.  
  
"That girl is a fine example of your debauchery! I've read of her, her life before you, all that you have done to her, the death and dismemberment she faced on a daily basis, the fear of your brute way your whipped into her! Yet another life you've ruined and more blood stained on 'our' family name!" Kal spat out felling her anger renewed.  
  
"I think Nef is an example of my generosity!" Moze yelled back than settled his temper again. "My SELECTIVE generosity. She has more with me than she could have ever had in Egypt. She is happy." Moze looked straight into Kal's eyes. "Nefret is a good person with a righteous soul, and she is happy to be part of his family." The prospect of his words cut right though Kal she looked up. "Being member of this family of ours doesn't' make us evil or shameful, It's only ourselves that can do that."  
  
"Well Mozey, you always did have a flair for words. A flair for making the truth cutting to." Kal smiled and sat back down at his side to think.  
  
Moze smiled as Kal looked to his face with a small excepting smile. "So girl, what's your name? Your FULL name?" He elbowed her a bit.  
  
"Oh no, we're not tacking on anything to my name just yet. You go home. Go home and go on with your life. If I like what the new history books say about you I'll THINK about adopting the family name."  
  
****  
  
Nefret paced nervously tuning the ring around her pinky. She bit her lip and looked at the clock.  
  
"Sorry I'm late." Don whispered out. Nefret rushed into his arms. "Hey now, don't you think we should wait till AFTER dinner at least?" Don teased.  
  
"When did you get so picky about time?" Nefret teased back but her smile faded with Don's grin. "No, I was just kidding. We actually have to talk."  
  
"Talk, why talk when we.." Don broke off as Nefret turned away to sit on the couch. "I don't like the sounds of this." He breathed as he joined her.  
  
"It's nothing bad, not really. I just need to know something." Nefret took a breath. "Don, do you. love me?"  
  
Don blanched. Coming from any other girl it would have sounded demanding and forward, but he knew why she was asking. "Nefret, we've only been together...it takes time to know." Don looked away unsure if the words would hurt her. "Do you?"  
  
"I feel for you but I. don't know."  
  
Don nodded sadly. "Than that's your decision."  
  
"No!" Nefret burst out. "I haven't made one yet. But I need to weigh both sides to see if. if." She laughed nervously. "If anyone cares for me."  
  
"You know Chroias.." Don offered but was cut off.  
  
"I don't mean her. I know her feelings, but with either life I choose I will see her again. If she goes home today I'd she'd still be in this time, her aged self. There would be no break form her, she might have to wait a few hundred years to get to this year again but that's probably a drop on the bucket of her. I'm basically choosing who I want to leave forever, you and Moze. I need to know how you two feel about me. you could love me, and I could love you. That will be a large part of my decision, now I need to know the other half. I need to know if, as his words towards me suggest, if Mozenrath really doesn't give a damn about me. I need to tell him. and ask him if he cares."  
  
Chapter 220 (by Kalynn) Kal searched through the extensive library. Much as she hated to admit it, Mozenrath's words had gotten to her. She had never had an easy life. Her father had abandoned the family when he discovered his wife had been a member of the Mozenrath family line. The when she was born, her mother had promptly died, leaveing a lost and alone child. The hospital doctors had dumped her in an orphanage, one of the worse one's at that. All through her life, strange things happened around the young red headed girl. When she was sad, it rained, when she was mad, it stormed. Children mad fun of her on the playgrounds because she was pale and odd looking. Not like any of the others. But these odd things never seemed to be under her own control. She never knew how to manage them. Often, people including herself, got hurt.  
  
Poprieter had been a stocky old man who had other means of making money. When the girls in his possession came of about 10,he sold them to whoever paid the best price. It never mattered to him what they did with the girls so long as he got his share. Kal had been almost nine when he tried to sell her off to a Public Harem. "A child of misfortune, Kal had always learned to push for what she wanted. "Never let 'em see you break" Had always been her philosophy. So when the old fool had tried to sell her to the Harem maneger, Kal finally lost control.  
  
"I can still smell his charred flesh in my nose." Kal thought as Amshak hopped up on her shoulder. A lightning bolt was all it had taken to kill the man.Kal had been so terrified of what she'd done she'd run off into the streets and no one had ever seen her there again.  
  
Amshak had been the first true friend she'd found. Actually, he'd found her. Cold and alone, when Amshak had found her good luck started to turn in her direction. Amshak found her decent clothing and a place to stay. And no one ever bothered the odd little teen who spoke to her quaint pet cat. Amshak helped her find pieces of her life again. Peaces of what she knew. If it hadn't been for Amshak, Kal might have never know she was a sorceresss. He brought her books of magic and anything else he though to be use full and Kal absorbed the information like a spunge. She threw nothing away, memorizing it all.  
  
Soon after her thirteenth birthday, she'd met Laura, then with her came Don. They had helped her to finish out her coaching and Amshak had stayed on as her friend and councilor. Even with the ristamak all over the place Kal found a goal in life. She had dedicated herself to the freedom of magic and it's people. She knew as well as any of them the hardships that went with their kind and was determined to somehow find a paradise for her friends. And then Mozenrath had dropped out of the bloody sky.  
  
"Why in the Hell did he have to turn up?" Kal questioned and heard Amshak's telepathic chuckle.  
  
"You know damn well why. Because you've never accepted who you are."  
  
"I don't want to accent it. I may be his descendent, but I do not wish to follow his foot steps."  
  
"Is that what your so bloody afraid of? Kal Janell."  
  
"Don't you dare say it" Kal warned him through her thoughts. Amshak could read her thoughts just as much as she his.  
  
"Kal look at what you've done! You've helped so many. You've dedicated your life to something worthwhile and wonderful! How can you think that admitting your past is an evil thing to do?"  
  
"Because it's not my past. It's his." A mental image of Mozenrath radiated between the two and Amshak sighed.  
  
"I cannot force you to accept him as you family member." Amshak said in bitter defeat. "But perhaps, they will not be here much longer Kal. There is much you could learn for him. It is not as though he has not suffered in his life. Every one, even now, knows the rumors of Distane's perversions. Every one know's about Mozenrath's hand and his mother's abuse towards him." Amshak rubbed his cheek against hers. "Who's to say he might have turned out differently if it had not had been for those things? Talk to him Kal. Let him know you're on the level. Open up to him just a bit and you'll be surprised what you may find out."  
  
"Why? Have you mind read him?" Kal asked and got a mental image of Amshak smiling.  
  
Chapter 221 (by Nefret)  
  
Kal sighed as she closed the library door. She passed by the parlor door and backtracked, sticking her head back though the door she found Laura flopped in a chair slowly tinkering with Bonny's fur. The girl seemed to be far way even though she was just a few feet way. The reason soon became apparent. The TV was on.  
  
"It really is amazing, a population that the government has actively and publicly condemned is now filing out into the street with no police resistance!" The blonde haired news anchor reported. The wail of victory cries and the blare of cries filtered through the TV. "Even now, if you can see behind me, the PNDC.. the uh, paranormal detainment center.. The gates are just being flung open and I can see all sorts of people and. strange beasts just parading out. The Ristamk official had this to say about their policy reform."  
  
Kal edged behind Laura to watch the TV as to her surprise Nox appeared on screen. "We have lived though a dark and scary time. Because of one great threat mass precautions had to be taken. Many detained to protect the public of just a few. I am now happy to tell you the threat is over, Chinadas is gone and there is now more danger from the..er. more extraordinary sect of our population. Many years ago we felt a great terror to this nation and took extensive and thoroughly necessary precautions! And I am proud to announce the system has worked! We protected this public. We here feel very proud and."  
  
Laura flipped off the TV. "For just a moment I expected an apology." She scoffed.  
  
Kal let out a heavy breath as she flopped down beside here friend. "You should know better than to think the government would admit to wrong doing!" Kal shook her head amused then saw the look still crimping the Celtics features.  
  
"This isn't the end. The government has poisoned the minds of the public for so long with slander about us. Just 'cause the politicians have done an about face we're still going to face a lot of prejudice." Laura pulled herself up to walk to the door, Kal followed.  
  
"It's better than we've been doing! If I go into a restaurant I don't really give a damn now if they give me a dirty look, all's I'll care about is being in a restaurant!" Kal laughed then grew a bit more serious. "It will dissolve in time. And you and I and Don and ALL of us will show those bigots we're just as good as they are."  
  
"Don't you mean better?" Laura jabbed.  
  
"Precisely!"  
  
*****  
  
Nefret sighed as Chroias nodded slightly, still not convinced. "You know Moze, he's so tight-lipped and secretive with his feelings. He has just as many walls up as a labyrinth and he hides deep in the center afraid if he lets them down he'll find a slap in the face waiting behind them. And many times, years ago, that's the way it would have been." Chroias smoothed the girl's curls. "Tell him carefully, and don't throw it in his face. For once in your life be humble and speak delicately. This sort of thing is going to go straight through him, and if you say it wrong he may have a conniption, throw you across the room and take Don's head off!" Chroias's bit of humor didn't sit well with Nefret at the moment. She visibly stiffed and something deep in the stomach crashed to her feet.  
  
"Roias, I'd appreciate it if you stayed just outside the room. When Moze gets in one of his fits you're the only one who can bring him to his senses!" Nefret laughed as hollow laugh. There had only been several occasions when she felt Mozenrath posed a serious danger to her, only rarely did she ever feel him capable of really hurting her. She had gotten away with a lot, perhaps she had become to overconfident. Nefret had seen what happened when someone challenged her master. With a tender kiss from Don she followed Roias to the mansion study where Mozenrath had shut himself in.  
  
"I'll be right here listening." The demoness smoothed as Nefret took a deep breath and entered the study alone.  
  
Mozenrath was pouring over some books that he immediately slammed shut at the sight of his minion. "Damn it girl! I was working, what is so important that it couldn't wait?"  
  
Nefret hesitative but firmly sat herself down in the arm chair facing the desk Mozenrath was planted behind. "I have something to tell you Mozenrath." Mozenrath's eyebrows arched. "I suppose your looking for a way back home?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Don and I have become involved. It hurts me to think of leaving him."  
  
"Well that's you own fault. You knew were weren't' staying here, you should have left him alone." Moze went back to reading.  
  
"That's just it. I'm not sure if I'm going home with you." Nefret said lowly. Mozenrath head shot up. "Don's given me the option to stay."  
  
Chapter 222 (by Kalynn) Mozenrath snapped his mouth shut firmly. Nefret hear the wheels turning in his head as he weighed the statement. "You should not have permitted yourself to become involved." he stated in a half dead sort of voice and began to turn back to his book.  
  
Nefret felt a warm blush rise on her cheeks. "Well it's not as though it was completely my fault ya know. I've been locked up in that Citadel for nearly five years with the only male company being you and the occasional perverted King!" she grabbed the edge of Mozenrath chair and hauled him around. "Can you blame me for when the opportunity comes along wanting to find someone to share it with?"  
  
"Yes I can!!" Mozenrath pulled up the leg of her pants. The gold gleaming of the anklet shone forth in the evening light. "You think this will last when we go back to our own time. Not only does the anklet bond you to the borders of the Land of the Black sand ,but bonds you to me as well. That is why you are able to pass through with me by your side and feel no pain."  
  
"But you can just take it off!" Nefret protested but could see the grimace on her masters face.  
  
"You made your bed Nefret and laid in it to." Mozenrath dripped with sarcasm and what happened next could only be expected. Nefret hauled back her fist and punched him full in the face. Mozenrath's head snapped to one side and the sorcerer stood slowly, towering over her. He gripped her arm painfully and twisted it to the side ,he brought his hand half way to her face before he stopped and only pulled back a handful of her hair.  
  
"Listen to me very carefully Nefret. We made a deal a very long time ago.You do recall that deal clearly in your mind don't you?" he waited till Nefret shook her head in earnest. "That deal is not yet up. But I will in earnest make you another one. When you have served your twent years to me.If you still wish to be with this Don person, I will reopen the portal to this world and let you go."  
  
Nefret scoffed. "And what good is that going to do me when I'm old and gray?"  
  
Mozenrath sighed and fingered the sharks tooth around his neck. "Where there is one there is another. I will find a way to restore youth to you before hand and then let you go. It would not be that difficult a task Nefret. I have already begun to study the propertys of the sharks tooth and am trying to find out if it can be used in other manners."  
  
A flicker of hope flashed across Nefret's face. It wasn't the straight forward yes or no answer she'd wanted, and there were so many chances that something could go wrong.But a chance was a chance,and it was more then she had hoped to get from Mozenrath. "All right Moze. I want it in written contract. Chroias and Don can be witnesses and Don can keep the papers."  
  
Mozenrath sighed, to tiered to do any more arguing. "Very well. Leave me now minion. I am not in a good mood and you are luck to have gotten this much leeway from me."  
  
Nefret knew to take her chance while she had it, but could not resist looking at the book Mozenrath had closed on the desk. Expecting to find a spell book, she saw a book of hospital records. From the same hospital Laura had mentioned Kal being born at. Mozenrath was watching her movements, so she had no time for inspection. Pulling herself off the floor with as much dignity as possible, she walked out the door and was met by Chroias's hugging arms  
  
"So much for speaking softly and with dignity." Nefret said as the demon smiled.  
  
"It turned out far better then I expected. You can have the best of both worlds Nefret."Chroias beamed and began walking down the corridor with her.  
  
"How do you mean?"  
  
"Silly mortal! Don"t you get it?"Seeing that the pint was lost on her she elaborated. "Even if Mozenrath shares the power of the sharks tooth with you, that is an extra two thousand years including the usual thousand years most sorcerers live. Nefret, you won't die before we do!"  
  
Kal walked into the chambers Mozenrath was using and sat down across from him. "Wusp." she said in a tone meaning that she intended to stay for a moment or two.  
  
Mozenrath lifted his head from his paper work and looked at her seriously. "Ok, are you here to bitch at me again or what?"  
  
Kal grimaced but pulled a bottle of wine from thin air. "I came to talk. Look you wanna know the straight up truth. I admire you. I think how you managed power compared to the obstacle around you is amazing. I admire anyone who can be through all you have been and still manage to come out on top. But so help me Allah it galls me how you have the audacity to pretend to be a good person despite everything you've done. You and I both know that what you did wasn't so much to help us as it was done out of jealousy."  
  
Mozenrath nodded and poured the wine. "I couldn't help it." he though for a moment. "When we met, you said your last name was Osburn. I assume that was a fake name."  
  
Kal nodded. "Yes. I grabbed it off an Ozzy Osborn poster and changed a letter or two. Couldn't be heled. If anyone knew my real name, people are no less fond of you now then they were then." she sipped at the glass he'd given her and grinned. "I'm not too fond of you either."  
  
"Yes I think you've made that blatantly obvious." Mozenrath returned the smile and a connection was made between the two. "Kal," he paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not to continue, but barreled onward. "Kal tell me everything. I assure you it can't be any worse then anything I've know?"  
  
Kal scoffed and petted Amshak. "What makes you think there's anything to tell?"  
  
"Are you kidding. You are so much like me it's frightening. And I know enough about myself to realize there is a story behind every face." Still Kal seemed reluctant to share anything and Mozenrath decided to risk it. Slowly, he pulled of the Gauntlet on his hand to show the bone beneath.  
  
Chapter 223 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret crashed on the couch next to Don. He looked with concern to the finger marks appearing on her arm and the red spot creeping down her forehead from her scalp. He looked angry for a second, and even more miffed when Chroias came in and sat back in the chair across from him.  
  
Chroias caught aura of protective rage radiation from Don. "Well it's not like it was unprovoked! Nef here gave Mozy quite a punch." Chroias laughed for a second she did find it rather funny. "Oh not that I condone it! Very bad Nefret, very bad girl!" Chroias scolded half mockingly.  
  
Don was on the edge of his seat and the bemused looks on both girls were driving him crazy. "Well did we win or not!?"  
  
"Win?" Nefret threw her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled into his neck. "My dear Don, there is no winning against Mozenrath. Only deals, contacts and compromises." Don accepted this with a sigh and wrapped an arm around Nefret as she pulled back. Chroias had a silly little grin on her face. Don caught it and self-consciously untangled himself from Nefret and pulled the arm of his shirt down to cover his scars.  
  
"God you to are just so cute!" she teased. "You know who you two remind me of.."  
  
The demon was cut off at the sound of a tapping, fast and furious, almost fumbling. The sound had become a familure one in this palace of marble floors. Laura rushed into the room canning her steps as fast as the girl could. Her face was redder than normal and her already messy hair was mussed. "I found the way back to your time. Or more like it. It's found us!"  
  
Chroias examined the girl with a skeptical face. "Ridicules! How could a portal FIND us? It's nothing more than a little rip in."  
  
"Portals don't create themselves!!!" Laura half yelled, rebuffed.  
  
"Mozenrath has enemies, but none so powerful as to do this.." Chroias scoffed, but the little gears in her head were turning. "Such as spell would even take ME time and a lot of."  
  
"Well it didn't seem to give her a problem, the dang portal opened in the garden and there SHE was grinning like a cheaser cat!" the Celtic grumbled.  
  
"She?" Nef and Chroias's voices rose in unison.  
  
"Well I'm guessing that's what you'd call it. When I said she looked like a cat I mean it! Little button nose, bit slit pupil eyes, ears. the whole nine yards. And she had the most awful laugh. I can still remember what she said to.. 'mommy's home' Creepy little thing." Laura warped her free arm around herself as if cold. Nef and Roias only looked at each other wide eyed.  
  
*****  
  
Kal grinned one sidedly and tipped her head, never even bothering to look at Mozenrath now exposed hand. "You like waving that thing around when you want to break people huh? It was one of the most interesting tidbit in the history book, your little skin problem." She scoffed.  
  
"You... knew? History books?" The sorcerer stuffed his hand back in the gauntlet.  
  
"It's all there in black and white." She opined to a leather bound book sitting on a stand in the corner like some gilded treasure. "You entire biography. You'll be happy to know it takes up a whole chapter in the magical history textbooks."  
  
"All of it?" Mozenrath looked at the book as if were his flaming doom.  
  
Kal suddenly felt bad for even bringing it up. He didn't need to know his dirty laundry was now displayed for everyone to see. To her knowledge there had only been handful of people he had permitted to know the truth. And even for a while he had kept those he loved dearly in the dark about the whole thing. Just like.. Just like her. "Yes. All of it. And yes we all know, we have known, we will always remember. We look at you with the full knowledge of you life, our eyes are educated to you. I know who you are and what made you. I have that advantage over you." Kal's words seemed almost coolly cruel, but there was something in her eyes. just something unreadable yet. "You must feel so vulnerable now. You felt vuluerable when Chroias found out, threatned when your minion was told, ashamed when your children figured out something wasn't right. You feared the pity, the name you'd be pinned with."  
  
"I am not pitied! I will not be pitied!" Mozenrath bursed to his feet.  
  
"Exactly, they didn't let it matter, because they're your family. That's were we differ, I have had no family to confide in. No one who would understand."  
  
"No?" Mozenrath questioned as she lowered down into the chair and crossed his arms on the desk as if he was getting ready for a long sitting.  
  
Chapter 224 (by Kalynn) Kal sighed. "No I never have and never really will. I have regrets, blood on my hands, secrets and dirty dealings same as any one. I killed for the first time when I was only ten. Ran instead of becoming a public harem girl and selling my body to men." she laughed. "Ironically it would have been a much better life style then the one I'm leading now. But that's not why I didn't take it."  
  
Mozenrath, glad to be finally getting some answers out of her took the opportunity. "Why then?"  
  
Kal laughed outright this time. "Partly, that pride I get from your side! Partly because of the nature of my power." She turned and looked at Mozenrath. "My power is directly connected with that of the storm. I can't stand being cooped up or caged it. It's effectively the same as killing me." she shrugged and opened a window to let the dawn air paint her pale face like a spilled artists box. "Didn't you ever notice how nervous I constantly was when we were in the ristamas interrogation room. I busted the light because if I'm in the dark I can picture a spaceless void. Something I taught myself to get over the claustiphobia."  
  
"It was a good way to deal with a potentially dangerous problem." Mozenrath agreed. "Do you know what I thought the first time we met?"  
  
"That I was completely insane?"  
  
"Yes. But also that you were a fighter. You and I are so much alike it's scary. Terrifying even. But what is more terrifying is what we have both been through to get to where we are." Mozenrath took a big leap with his next statement. "I respect you Kal. Not as much as some people do. But you have spent your entire life fighting for something you obviously believe in. You are well trained and well demarcated in your craft. Who taught you by the by?" Mozenrath smiled when she pointed to Amshak. "I should have guesses. Familiars always have a tendency to be wells of information." He winced in memories of Xerxes. "I guess I got the odd one..wait! What happened to Xerxes?"  
  
Kal looked at Amshak and the cat let out a loud belch. "I'd say he's taken care of. Amshak has massive transportation spells that can carry him long distances. It's how he usually gets about to his many many harems among the city." Amshak hissed and made a playful swipe at his mistress's dreadlocks. "And you thought I didn't know about that!" Amshak made a series of hisses and meows and Kal listened intently. "He also says before you guys go he has a gift for Chroias."  
  
Mozenrath nodded, not really listening. "Tell me more about yourself Kal. You have the unfair advantage over me." he pointed to the book.  
  
Kal told him her whole story. From the first minuets she could remember, to killing the orphanage man ,to where Amshak had found her ,to the runs she had made to get some sorcerers(which remained nameless),out of Agrabah. "It was a way to make money. Even though most of the world was and still is disagreeing of sorcerers, there are safer places for us then here. I was given the option to go, but my life had more purpose here." She patted the wall. "Home sweet home."  
  
"Yeah a place like this does grow on you. I still miss my old home though." Mozenrath wasn't being entirely truthful, but he figured it best not to risk working her emotions.  
  
"Speaking of which. I heard the conversation between you and Nefret. If you hadn't done what you did I probably would have come in here and chewed your head off like I was intending to."  
  
Chapter 225 (by Nefret)  
  
Claws clicked on the floor and the door swung open. Slowly a strangly magestic image filled the doorway. Chroias crossed her arms and huffed, the air around her seemed to warm. Nefret took a step back and pressed her fingernails into her own palm.  
  
A smile spread across the newcomers face as her eyes rolled over the gang. Making her way inside she feel upon the room with a broad sweap of her arms and a flashy smile. "welcome to my gift of love!"  
  
"Look what the cat dragged in." Chroias scoffed as Mirage laughed and shifted her hips into a pose of utter narcissism.  
  
"Dear daughter in law. Shall I embass you?" Mirage flicked open her hands, it just happened that her claws flahed in the sunlight. "And dear little fog horn." She hissed out the pet name in a sickinly sweet tone.  
  
"Enough false salaams Mirage." Chroais brezzed, the demoness sat down wath the clear intent that everyone else should follow suit. "You bring a gift... of love you say?"  
  
"BROUGHT dear child, brought and received. I do hope the ride wasn't a rough one for you portals can give those of weak stomachs a real case of sea sickness. Oh but look you got here in one piece and all in the right combinations! Good I was worried about that."  
  
Nefret muttered a word that was almost unbearable, and a good thing that was to. The cat woman peered at the girl questionly, Nefret wasn't going to let it pass. "Gift of love? You're love could freeze beer, Mirage."  
  
"That's what I love about mortals!!!!" Mirage raised her arms up as if Nefret had just don't the most brilliant thing in the world. "Higher levels of thought fry their brains! I so do enjoy dumbing things down for you little humans."  
  
Chroias stopped Nefret before she could stand. "You think you've done some great thing here?" the demon was amazed in her inquiry as her arms made a sweeping motion.  
  
"No, no, I don't the 'great things' gig. Lets call this personal improvement. Oh not that you all weren't perfect before! My son the floor mats for two willful wenches. My demoness daughter in law mellow mother and wife. And the little slave raised up to the level of second lady of the house. No, you all were just really the model for family life."  
  
"And what are we now? How did the pain you inflicted on us change any of that?" Nefret sneered.  
  
Mirage leaned over with a smile, the kind of smile you'd give a child. "Well little mortal, Chroias has realized again her full demon power, Mozenrath was made to fight to win back his own kingdom and sharpen his power and mind, and you.. I even gave you a little something." Mirage's cat eyes flicked to Don. "Now I believe I'll go see my son." Chapter 226 (by Kalynn) Amshak curled up in Mozenrath's old turban. He was frankly surprised that things were going this well between Kal and Mozenrath so far. They were at least talking to one another in a semi-civilized tone now. Actually it sounded more like a peace treaty talk between the Middle East and America. But it was coming along. He smiled to himself. So much had been going on between them and Amshak knew he'd done his best. In fact he'd come to care for Kal like a father might a daughter. And since she'd never really had a father before, the cat found himself contented to be the substitute.  
  
Suddenly Amshak felt his cat sense tingling. There was another cat in the place, unidentifiable and unfamiliar to him. "Kal."  
  
Kal visible stiffened in her chair. "Sup."  
  
"I can smell another cat in the area ,magical, and with a defiant air of evil about her. You might want to out your guard on."  
  
Kal didn't even get the opportunity to stand before Mirage burst into the room. "Well well well. So you two did meet up as planed."  
  
"What the, oh your Annoying Incarnate ain't yeah?" Kal stated and Mozenrath had to cover his mouth in order to stop the laugh. "Your in all the history books."  
  
Mirage seethed in anger for a moment, then presented the young woman with a sadistic smile. "Well now I DO hate to tear a family meeting apart, but it's time Mozey came with me." Mirage screeched as a black and white fur ball, almost too small to be anything but a mouse, launched itself at her, hissing and spitting loudly. Mirage screeched, bringing the others to attention.  
  
For a moment no one could figure out what to do. Kal and Amshak were rolling on the floor laughing, Mozenrath seemed torn between laughing and helping the furball, Chroias and Nefret seemed none to concerned about the entangled cat but were more curious as to what had attacked her and how to thank it. Don was holidn Nefret back as though trying to protect her and Laura was simple frowning.  
  
"I though you promised he wouldn't attack anyone again?" Laura turned to the laughing Amshak and the cat gave a human like shrug.  
  
"He says," Kal managed to stand. "He says he can't help it, too much energy."  
  
"What has to much energy?"  
  
Kal turned as Amshak 'spoke' to her. "He say's this little thing is supposed to be his gift to you." She looked at the still screeching Mirage and pulled a black and white lump from her head. It tried to hang on with it's claws, but failed.  
  
Chroias looked at it and seemed shocked. "It's a kitten!"  
  
And indeed it was. A small, almost runtish kitten with sleek black fur just like his fathers and both front paws covered in white like he was wearing knee high boots. His green eyes looked up at the demon and he even seemed to grin at her.  
  
"Amshak said he asked him to behave, but Mephistopheles isn't very good at settling down. Nobody wanted him because he's stuck at the runt stage." Mephistopheles meowed pathetically in contrast to his earlier attitude and looked up at Chroias."He doesn't have mind capability's yet, but that'll grow in time." Kal dropped the kitten in Chroias's arms and she tried to cuddle it, only to have the kitten yank at her large earrings and meow in a laughing fashion. "Adorable." She said sarcastically.  
  
"Very cute." Mirage said lifting herself from the ground. She turned to Mozenrath in a huff and grabbed his arm. "We are going home now."  
  
Mozenrath issued a strange noise from his mouth, something between a purr and a wild cat shriek. It surprised everyone in the room. But after all he was half cat and was bound to have certain cat characteristics. "We will go in a moment. I want the opportunity to say a few things."  
  
Mirage smiled. "Awww. Saying by by between relatives."  
  
Mozenrath spun but said nothing. "Kal." he held out his hand and she took it. "It has been a pleasure meeting you. I wish I could have found my decedents a bit better off then this," he gestured around, "But my family is nothing if not survivors."  
  
Kal grinned at him. "I'll be damned. Hey Don! Hell just froze over!" she saw the man bust out laughing and Nefret turned to him.  
  
"What are you giggling about?" she hugged him close.  
  
"Oh just a little bet her and I made ages ago." He grinned at Nefret and whispered in her ear, she suddenly turned and smacked him lightly on the cheek.  
  
Laura smiled and walked over to Nefret. "Give the guy a break gal. You'll be with him again soon enough, wouldn't want to think you left on a sour note."  
  
Chapter 227 (by Nefret) Kal actually gave a sincere smile as the portal opened. Slowly the black and blue flames grew to frame a window to an old failure world. Thought the gateway the Citadel lay just as it had been left, dark, massive, and strangely homelike. The strange light washed over Laura's face as she watched Mozenrath and Chroias step through the time rift arm in arm following a still huffing Mirage. Nefret bit her lip slightly as she stared at the burring portal. Mozenrath, now in the other side and home, turned to look expectantly at his minion. Nef spun around and threw herself at Don.  
  
"See ya real soon sweets." She whispered out after a bruising kiss. That done Nefret turned back to the not so happy looking Mozenrath. With shimmering eyes she jumped through the rift just as Mirage slammed it shut almost in her face.  
  
Mozenrath let out a breath so deep it rivaled the winds of Libya. He was in his old stomping grounds again. His feet against his floor, breathing his air, he could almost feel the vibe radiating from the walls seeping in his skin. He was home, in a land where he ruled supreme, where he had total power and would forever. A sudden purr took that dominate feeling right out of him.  
  
Mirage stood with her arms crossed and a very self-pleasing grin on her face. "King of the castle again are we?" Mirage tapped a claw to her cheek in thought. "Well, if that's what you need to feel secure, who am I to point out how POSITIVELY wickedly well that half blood ran this joint. She was tremendously evil." She clapped her furry little hands together. "Truly the best show of the worst attitude I've seen yet."  
  
"I suppose now your going to get on your high horse and explain your latest brilliant escapade for us?" Mozenrath dripped with resentment as he breezed coolly with a wave of his hand.  
  
"Explain? You already know all you need to know. ALL of you leaned a valuable lesson through my little 'escapade' and came away better for it. You desperately needed what you learned if you want to make it through your fated lives." Mirage's fangs glistened as she grinned.  
  
"Oh that's not vague in the least." Chroias scoffed.  
  
"Being mystifying is just in my nature my dear." The image of Mirage melted away till only shinning eyes remained. "Mother is watching." Came the finally cackling retort before the eyes blinked out.  
  
Mephistopheles' lips pulled back in a hiss that that disputed his puniness. Both Nefret and Chroias gave that oh-look-how-cute look. Moze only rolled his eyes. Another sound came from the tiny kitten, but this time it was more of a surprised meow as a noise comparable to a cattle stampede rolled into the room. Anubis tackled Nefret as if she'd been gone for years. For the dog it couldn't have been more than a few hours, if Mirage had brought them back close to the same hour she had ripped them out of time. But still Anubis always did have a sixth sense when it came to his mistress. Mephistopheles seemed to grimace as he watched the dog lavish affection on the young Egyptian. He had been hoping to be the only and supreme animal ruler of the house and having a disgusting, uncouth, mangy dog slobbering all over his domain wasn't his idea of a good time.  
  
After greeting everyone else Anubis took quite a shine to the new addition and, without the respect a cat deserves, pounced his new "playmate" with a happy yip. Of course, this lack of reverence was not taken well and the war was waged. Serious swipes were taken by Anubis as an invitation to play and soon enough kitten energy took over and the throne room became the scene of a grand game of "take this" between the two animals. 


	11. Patron11

Patron 11  
  
Previously: Oh how to describe the adventures the gang has had. Crazy, simply Crazy. But now Lord Mozenrath is home with his demonic girlfriend Chroias and his free willing slave Nefret. Rejoining the tale now are Mozenrath and Chroias's twin children Zak and Trist. And joining them are their respective loves Domdi and Apepe, who happens to be Nefret's half brother. Throw a lovers fight in the mix and you get utter chaos! Lets watch....  
  
  
  
Chapter 228 (by Chroais)  
  
Mephistopheles grinned as he watched his new mistress with Nefret. It had been a month since they'd gotten to the Citadel and the new kitten was as intimately acquainted with it's structure as any inhabitant. In fact he did love the whole place, it reminded him of the place where his mother had kept them. 'Besides are were so many fun things to play with' He though and sank his claws into the folds of Mozenrath's turban. Chroias still hadn't learned to mind speak with him like Kal could with his dad, but she'd get it. Settling down and gnawing on the ruby in the hat, he saw Mozenrath coming and prepared for their usual debate.  
  
"Roi! Get your new pet the blazes out of my turban!" Moze dove for his hat and Mepho took a swipe at his hand. He wouldn't really be stupid enough to strike the hand the fed him, but it was still fun to see how close he could come. He let out a casual growl and settled down into the hat, giving Moze an I-dare-you-look. The same kind Nef frequently gave him.  
  
Chroias walked over and managed to scoop the cat from the hat with only a few claw marks to her. Really they weren't much more then the same kind of marks she and her brothers used to give each other when they were play fighting. She kissed him on the top of the head and Mepho calmed down. "Oh Moze lighten up. He's just being a cat."  
  
"Yeah. Like he was just being a cat when he shredded my robe, like he was just being a cat when he decided my throne was his. Just being a cat when he decided that our bed was his sleeping mat!" Mozenrath grimaced. He and Chroias had been directly in the middle of something when the little devil had come romping in and jumped up on the bed like he owned it. "He even decided that Anubis was a chew toy." Really the dog's tail wasn't what he was concerned about, but she cared more about Nefret's friendship when it came to something like this.  
  
Anubis came out of his hiding place at the mention of his name and Mepho immediately went for the tail. Anubis yelped but spun and gently tackled the kitten with one paw, holding him securely without really hurting him. A pleasant smile came over the dogs face as the kitten gave playful snarls and gnawed at the paw.  
  
Nefret grinned at Mozenrath. "Anubis can take care of himself. You know Moze you've kind of been on pins and needles lately. You too Roi. A lover's tiff of some sort?" she said suggestively.  
  
"None of your business." Mozenrath snapped and Chroias snapped at him.  
  
"She didn't do a damn thing! You're just so bloody stuck in your own self that you don't think of other people!" Chroias's pale face had turned beat red about the edges.  
  
"I only think of myself! If that ain't the pot calling the kettle black!" Mozenrath got closer to his lover. "You're the one who's so damn hard to please!"  
  
"I don't ask that much from you!"  
  
"Like hell you don't!"  
  
"You're the one who decided to quit!"  
  
"Its not like I had a choice!"  
  
"Oh didn't you!" Chroias was nearly an inch away from his face now and boiling mad.  
  
"Well you weren't doing much to help." Mozenrath stated in his calm and ever right voice.  
  
"Wasn't doing" Chroias brought her hand against Mozenrath's cheek. But instead of the usual slap from and angry female ,it was the hard on punch of a seriously pissed woman. "Of all the nerve!" she grabbed Mepho from under Anubis's foot and stalked off down the corridors with him.  
  
"Ummm Ok. Should I.."  
  
"Nefret. Do NOT try me right now."  
  
"OK. I'm just gonna go now."  
  
  
  
Chapter 229 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret spun the fork on the dinner table, an exercise of complete boredom. Finally with a sigh the hand supervising her head slipped away and she laid her head on the table eyes closed and stayed that way. Neither Chroias nor Mozenrath had been seen since that afternoon. Nefret knew where Moze was alright, the one place he always was when he didn't wish to be social, locked away in his lab, safely out of the reach of reality. Nef hadn't tried to make contact with either of them, Mozenrath for obvious reasons. She would have liked to talk to Roias but the demon had oddly vanished from all the common places. It was now apparent neither of them was going to join her for dinner and a kick in Nefret's stomach announced it was time to stop waiting for them and chow down.  
  
"Muuhhhh." Came the half grunt half moan to Nefret's left. "muuummmm." The mumluck pointed to her plate than jerked his thumb to the door.  
  
To call a mumluk articulate would be a terrible lie, but strongly enough, after a while you start to understand them. Meal tray in hand Nefret slowly climbed the steps to the lab. With a knock she slipped the door open and backed in trying to keep the best to level the heavy tray. Mozenrath's shoulder's visibly stiffened when his minion kicked the door closed behind her.  
  
"Must you do that?" He growled out remaining hunched over his work.  
  
"And if I hadn't would you'd have nit picked about leaving the door gaping?" Nef coyly asked as she dropped the tray on a nearby table.  
  
Mozenrath's shoulders quaked a bit, a sure indication of infamous silent chuckling. With slow steps he turned around and paced heavily to her. "I'd thought you'd be smarter than to test me at a time like this. But than again you're just a mindless low class slave girl."  
  
The words left a sour taste in Nefret's mouth. Verbal poison was all it was. "I'll not be your punching bag Mozenrath. I'll hit back. And with what's going on between you and Chroias I have plenty of ammo." Nefret put on a smart smile that was just asking for trouble.  
  
"You know NOTHING about it!" He was coming dangerously close to making physical contact now.  
  
"Uh huh. Supper is cold."  
  
  
  
Chroias, much to Nefret's surprise, was sitting at the dinner table when the girl got back. The demon seemed to have been in quite a tiff before; it showed in the tension of her muscles and the darkness of her eyes. But she was smiling now. "There you are! When I came down and didn't see you stuffing your face I immediately thought the worst." The demon's Grin widened.  
  
"And when you didn't come to dinner to play footies with Moze under the table I started to suspect something serious was going on." Nefret mused as she sat down happy to have someone to eat with even if she could still feel the demons anger simmering under that cool exterior.  
  
Chapter 230 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias smirked gently, trying to keep a cool head. After all Nef was her friend and she needed a friend right now. Picking at the food on the plate with only half a heart, she zapped Mepho up on top of the table as Anubis joined them. The kitten had been playing nasty games with the hound and she wasn't in the mood to separate the two. "You know Nef I didn't mean for you to get caught in the middle of this."  
  
Nef smiled. "What ever made you think I was in the middle of anything?" "Moze's yelling from upstairs." She scratched the kittens head. "What did you do?"  
  
"I committed a horrible sin of kindness and brought him dinner." She sucked on a grape before pulling it into her mouth. "So do you wanna tell me what's going on between you and Moze?"  
  
"No." Chroias said shortly but Nefret wasn't put off. Sometimes Chroias could be just as bad as Moze when it came to keeping the wrong things secret.  
  
"I just kinda noticed that you've started sleeping in your own room again and Moze had taken to walking through the halls at night." She picked up an empty wine glass. "And he's drinking more."  
  
"Of course he is." Chroias was just gonna let her take that as she may. "I notice your still wearing some of the future stuff."  
  
Nef grinned. She'd taken to wearing a mishmash of the futuristic clothing and her old Egyptian stuff. It was just so comfortable. Even Moze wore some Levi brand jeans instead of his oversized trousers. He'd said they were comfortable. Still kept his blue-black top though and of course the gauntlet. "I couldn't help myself."  
  
"I know. I'd forgotten how comfy future clothing was." She pulled at her tight skirt and fixed her halter-top that Mepho had been yanking on. "How bad of a mood is he in?"  
  
Nef didn't have to ask to know who she meant. "Bad. Like usual he won't say anything about it, not to me. But if going by that standard then everything's normal." Anubis put his head in Nefret's lap and she fed him some strips of meat to calm him down. "Why doesn't he want to talk about it?" Of course Chroias kept her head down and petting Mepho. "Ok. If I can make a guess at what's going on, will you tell me?"  
  
Chroias nodded slowly, unsure of how this was going. Mepho snagged her necklace on his claw and growled happily.  
  
"Ok. is the gauntlet acting up again?"  
  
Chroias shook her head,no.  
  
"Um, dreams going astray?"  
  
Head shake no.  
  
"Planning to go on a world domination spree and simultaneously forgetting to thank you for magical assistance?"  
  
"Yes. But that's not the problem."  
  
Nefret geared up to ask another question but a knock at the door interrupted her.  
  
"Auntie Nef We're back!!!"  
  
  
  
Chapter 231 (by Nefret)  
  
With a nearly girly trill both girls jumped up and padded to the door. Behind it lay The twins and their perspective lovers. Domdi smiled sweetly and Apepe leaned on the doorframe with an undeniably pompous grin. Chroias pulled Zak into her arms for a hug that made the young man blush in slight humiliation before the demon traded with Nefret for Trist.  
  
"Exuse me. I'm family here!" Apepe growled out with false bravado. "You gota get your priority's straight sister 'o mine." He lovingly punched Nefret's shoulder.  
  
Nefret pulled back and slugged him in the arm right back. Apepe made a small sound than smiled as Nefret nestled into his arms. "You gota learn what's good for you." Nefret sighed. At her brothers questioning look she smiled. "I have a feeling you'll understand soon enough."  
  
Mozenrath had howled and growled when Nefret insisted he forget the cold tray she had brought him earlier and join them for dinner. Well not so much insisted as shut the book he was studying and made sure he pursued her down to the dinning room. She only narrowly escaped his wrath when the doors were flung open and the sorcerer's children fell upon him.  
  
"Daddy!!!" Tirst cried in an almost childlike voice as she burst from the room forcing Mozenrath to let his minion inch away from the corner he had pinned her in.  
  
"Trist..." That was all the sorcerer could get out before he was enveloped in the thin pale arms of his daughter and assaulted by the strong-armed pats of his son. For the first time in days Chroias saw her lover smile, not that she gave a damn really...  
  
After a while Mozenrath unhooked himself from Trist to greet Domdi. Of course she was just a commoner, in normal circumstances her inclusion in the family would send him into fits, but she was a commoner with a genie! "Domdi my child how's that genie of yours?"  
  
"She's still steaming a bit." Domdi laughed slightly and snuck a look to Zak.  
  
Mozenrath smirked than his eyes caught on a not so welcome sight. Apepe, another commoner, had no assets to his name and was very unlikely to ever earn any. To make it all the worse he was his slave's half brother. He simply just wasn't good enough for his daughter, who would ever be? "I'd suppose YOU'RE here to see your sister. There is no other reason for you to be standing in my domain." Moze sneered.  
  
"Ah yes sir. My sister." Apepe pulled Nefret to his side and simultaneously pinched Tristram's rump. Luckily the slight twist in Trist's face went unrecognized by Mozenrath.  
  
Dinner was going well, as well as can be expected for the dinners. Mozenrath kept giving Apepe warning glares and there was an usual silence between sorcerer and demon but Tris and Zak filled it with an account of their last few months and of course the gang had much to tell the twins. Moze was right in the middle of recounting the escape from the prison when a monotone voice broke in.  
  
"It didn't happen that way." Chroias droned not bothering to look up from her plate.  
  
"Excuse me? I think I remember what happened." Moze's mouth had formed a tight line and his brows shaded his eyes and he looked down the table at Roias.  
  
"It's alright to admit faults sometimes Mozey dear." Chroias smiled a smile that showed off her fangs to perfect effect.  
  
Moze was about to retort when he caught his dinner guests giving each other looks. Looking away Mozenrath took up a new subject. "More wine now." He ordered Nefret and shoved his glass towards her.  
  
"We have none to give." Nefret replied shortly. "One bottle doesn't stretch well between 7 people. I'll send a mumluk to the cellar.."  
  
"I said I wanted it now, not ten minutes from now. Never mind!" Moze snarled harshly and grabbed the glass back deliberately scrapping the base hard over his minion's knuckles.  
  
Zak and Trist exchanged a look as their Auntie pulled her hand under the table. Chroias had turned a beet read. "The bottle stretches even less when one person has already had three glasses of it." The demon's eyebrows rose at Mozenrath, making it all to apparent who she was talking about.  
  
"Yeah, well you need to be drunk to do some things." Mozenrath snorted and sat back, arms crossed and lips smirking.  
  
"And might I add it takes a few strong drinks to make some things attractive." Now it as the demons turn to assume the victory pose.  
  
"Exactly the reason I've had a nip at dinner for the last few years." Moze mused.  
  
Chroias had just opened her mouth and everyone could tell she had a real dozy on her mind. Trist and Domdi bit their lips, Zak cocked his brow, and Apepe sat on the edge of his seat. The demon's fangs glinted as her lips began to form a sound.  
  
"We have pastries!" Nefret jumped up suddenly and grabbed the plate stuffing a sugary treat securely in her friend's mouth. "Nasty neh?" Nefret smiled nervously at the glaring demon.  
  
Chroias pulled the treat out of her mouth and chewed daintily. "Scrumptious."  
  
  
  
Chapter 232 (by Chroias)  
  
"Ok dear sister be honest." Apepe asked as soon as Chroias and the twins had snuck out of the way. "Are the lovers having a slight trist?"  
  
"You are not being helpful!" Nefret slapped him lightly and frowned as Mepho hopped up in her lap. She petted the cat absently. "And the worst part of it is Roias won't say a thing about it!! She just won't! And of course Moze is absolutely a well of information."  
  
"Isn't he always?" Apepe gave his sister a hug and nodded up the stairs. "I'm ummm.." he searched for an excuse. "Gonna go explore a mite."  
  
He retreated up the stairs and a moment later Nefret detected a giggling from somewhere upstairs that had to be Tris. "Just what I need. Those two getting caught by the Master." She growled at Mepho and put the cat down as Anubis strode on her heels, whining to help his mistress's frustration.  
  
"Nice to know somebody still cares about me!" Nefret said and put the heel of her hand to her head. Truly what was going on between Moze and Roi was none of her business, but then again they were both her friends, even if Moze would never admit it. The only problem was what to do about it? It would be so much easier if they would just tell her what was going on!  
  
  
  
Later that Night:  
  
A sudden crash woke everyone in the Citadel. Nefret stuck her head outside the door and saw Zak and Domdi (from the same room), push their heads out. She also noticed that domdi was clutching desperately to a flimsy robe. Tris and Apepe (also from the same room) stuck their head out the door. As soon as Apepe noticed that the noise was comeing from Mozenrath's and Chroias's room he ducking into Nefret's. "Hey sis, mind if I crash here for a while?" He grabbed a sheet to cover himself, which told Nefret exactly what he's been doing with Tris.  
  
"Crash as long as you like, but shut up." She listened to the voices which were growing steadily louder. Straining her ears, Nefret could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation.  
  
"Look..not my fault...happen to..men at some point!"  
  
"That's....point....it's more....!"  
  
"Well if you...be that way...out!"  
  
"..my room.!"  
  
Another sudden crashing and the sound of a door being flung open. A bump, thud and a smack resounded and the whole group heard a grumbling as foot steps plodded down the stairs. Everyone ducked into their rooms and watched as Mozenrath's shadow passed by the doors and into alone of the guest bedrooms further down the hall.  
  
"Oh dear me now." Apepe said sarcastically. "Trouble in Paradise"  
  
  
  
Chapter 233 (by Nefret)  
  
Trist stared vacantly ahead as her auntie carefully braded her hair. The next mooring had dawned gray and dusky as it always did, but something else hung in the air besides the misery of the gloom and doom of the Black Sands desert. The very air hung thick with tension. Like a rope that had been stretched to tight, the slightest pull could snap it bringing all those balancing precariously on it's perch tumbling into utter chaos. Everyone could feel it and Nefret especially was walking on eggshells from the moment their feet hit the floor out of bed.  
  
"Auntie.." Trist's voice suddenly broke the spell that had settled into the silent spaces.  
  
"Don't ask me Tirst. I know no more than you do." Nefret sighed and smoothed braids she had just finished. "It seems so cold in here now." Nef crossed her arms more out of a supernatural chill than the climate of the room.  
  
"Oh." Trist seemed disappointed. "Well I have a felling it's about."  
  
"Hey." a sharp whisper brought both of the girl's heads whirling around. Apepe peeked in the door before sauntering in casually. His super short hair was in the unusual state of perfect order and his little goatee groomed into a neat little triangle extending from the lower ridge of his lower lip. He'd put on his best kilt and a belt sash he'd found in Nefret's old trunk. He stuck a little pose and smiled. Trist bit her lip to surpass a giggle and Nefret's breath stuck. How odd, he looked so much like her.. Their father... and so much like her. "I happened to notice Zak taking Domdi out for a morning stroll and I though madam might like to do like wise." Apepe held out his arm like the true gentleman he wasn't.  
  
"How.. Thoughtful of you." Trist giggled and did a little curtsy.  
  
"Sis would you..?" Apepe turned suddenly to Nefret.  
  
Nefret caught the slight look of brave sacrifice Trist gave her. With a sighing smile Nef sat down. "No Peppy. You two have fun. I have things to do."  
  
And the lovers were off arm in arm to an undisclosed location. Nefret jumped as a sardonic laugh ran out. It was failure yet unnerving at the same time.  
  
"Ah young love." Chroias appeared from the shadows. She looked like she was in less than a good mood. "Everywhere I turn it's young sweet DAMNDABLE love!!!" The demon threw herself in a chair and rubbed her temples vigorously.  
  
Nefret bit her lip if she would be lashed out upon is she spoke up. "But it's not in your own bedroom?" The words just slipped and Nefret immediate regretted them when she caught the demons' glare. "Oh girl, I'm sorry but when you two shout it from the roof tops it's hard to shut your ears to the arguments at night."  
  
"Ha, I guess we've been in fine form. So you know all about it?"  
  
"No, just that you two have hit a milestone in your relationship." Nef admitted. Chroias's brows crooked. "Love goes through stages ya know. The honeymoon is over sweetie. Welcome to the wonderful world of lovers quarrels and cold nights."  
  
Chroias gave a rueful laugh. "Dear sweet Nefret, you talk like you're an old woman. You've never even made it past young foolish love." The demon's fangs sparkled as she gave a broad grin.  
  
Nef gave an indignant shriek and jumped her friend pillow in hand. Both girls struggled with each other, each getting in a good few bats with the pillow all the while laughing hysterically. It as like the tension had broken but it brought only relief.  
  
A sudden yell stiffened the air again and all tension returned full force and then some. "NEFRET!!!!!!!!!!!" The voice carried long and loud though the halls of the Citadel.  
  
Both girls slowly nudged open the door of the great hall to find Mozenrath hunched over the balcony. "Nefret," Moze growled out with his back turned to the door. "Would you mind telling me what your idiot of a half brother is doing with MY daugher in the garden?!"  
  
  
  
Chapter 234 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias didn't wait for her friend to speak up. "OUR young daughter is simply taking a stroll with a pleasant young man on a pleasant day. Much like WE used to do!"  
  
Mozenrath stiffened. "Well that is not entirely my fault."  
  
"Unlike some things." Chroias snorted and turned around to the garden. Nefret shrugged her shoulders and started to follow.  
  
"Umm do me a favor and don't get into a spat unless I'm out of the way." She murmured to her friend. Chroias laughed slightly and nodded.  
  
"Excuse me." Zak punched his head out of the bushs. "I heard pops yelling. He isn't headed this way is he?" a slightly worried look crossed the youngsters face as Domdi's head popped out of the bushes. She blushed as she saw her lovers mother.  
  
"Mrs. Chroias, umm.I.sorry." She feebly tried to apologies.  
  
Chroias shook the apology away. "I wasn't trying to catch you two or anything darling." She rewarded the young woman with a pleasant smile. "Unlike some people, just because I can't get any doesn't mean others can't."  
  
Nefret winced. "Ouch! Harsh, Roi." she took her friends arm and lead them off in to the garden. "I really wish you two would find a resolve for this. It's driving me absolutely mad!"  
  
"Why? Just remember Nef, you've got twenty more years to go before you settle with love. Just try to keep you're a bit fresher then mine."  
  
"That! That's what's driving me crazy!" she pointed a finger accusingly at Chroias and the demon balked in surprise. "Don't you dare think you fool me for a instant little Miss Demon of Hell!"  
  
"Tarturus."  
  
"Whatever. Don't you think I watched you two every now and then?" Nefret pointed to where Mozenrath had been standing. "In the throne room when you thought I was in the kitchen. You two get so close when you think nobody's watching." Nefret picked a blue-black flower from it's place in a bush. "I've seen how much you two love each other. You even told me once how much you do. If you can tell me why can't you just say it to one another?"  
  
Chroias seemed chastened. Her tail dropped a bit and she heaved a sigh. "Nef it's not that simple. You said it yourself. I'm a demon."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So it's not the same. Admitting that you love some one for a human is so easy. You can look them in the eyes and admit that you feel for them. That you're willing to give your heart to them, to spend the rest of your lives and share their soul." Chroias spoke so poetically.  
  
"Well, we don't all take it quite that seriously. But I get your basic point." Nefret began to pluck the petals off the flower.  
  
"Well for a demon it isn't as easy. You see." She took the flower from Nefret and crumbled it into blue dust. "Demon's, no matter what home we claim, don't have souls."  
  
Zak sighed in content as Domdi rested her head on his chest. She smiled secretively at him and flipped her hair back in that easy manner she had. They'd only really been "lovers" for the past week or so. Now he understood much better why his parent were miserable now. They weren't leaning on each other like they should be. Thanks to Tris's telekinetic/telepathic link with their parents, he'd been letting her really information about how things were going to him. But her telepathic powers were not strong enough to break the secret section of their minds.  
  
He hated that. Not being able to see what she could see.  
  
"Zakurum!" His fathers voice rang through the air and Domdi jolted from her position.  
  
"Shuuush." He touched a hand to her and Domdi's slender,(and unclothed) body disappeared. "Zak zapped some clothing onto himself and stood suddenly out of the bushes. "Yo dad!"  
  
Mozenrath spun around suddenly. It's a good thing to, because Tris and Apepe slipped around just as he turned in the other direction. "there you are. Come with me to the lab."  
  
""Wha, why?"  
  
"Because we've been gone far too long. It's time to put you through a few tests. See how much you've been practicing on your ability's."  
  
The look on Zak's face could only be described as pure fear. He hadn't been very ardent about his magical feats while in Agrabah. It had just seemed better to keep his abilities a bit out of the way. Easier to deal with Eden's dislike of him. "Um Dad maybe we could hold this off until a better moment."  
  
But his plea was ignored. Mozenrath grabbed his son by the arm and pulled him off.  
  
  
  
Chapter 235 (by Nefret)  
  
"Pathetic!" Mozenrath snorted as Zak plucked the flower that had shot out from behind his ear. "You failed miserably. If that had been a stronger spell I'd have taken off your ear!"  
  
"Well maybe than I could get some peace." Zak mumbled under his breathe. But he knew he deserved the tongue-lashing. He was the child of a demon and the greatest sorcerer of their time and he couldn't block a simple flora spell. It was a good thing his father had decided to start off with a harmless spell worthy of a court jester.  
  
"Maybe you just need the challenge." Mozenrath rubbed his chin and hummed. In a split second his hand had been thrown up and a bolt zoomed at Zak's head.  
  
Zak gritted his teeth and balled is fists. The air around him became as thick as pea soup and the bolt stuck in the mix. Hovering there as a burning blue-black ball of death. Mozenrath smiled proudly as did Zak.  
  
"HA! I. Ohh." Zak's shoulders suddenly collapsed and he bent at the waist a bit, the air lighted again and the bolt swept to his head. Only a quick decision to drop the ground saved the young boys head from laying in smoldering heap miles away.  
  
After the initial panic/relief Moze growled and slammed his fist against a nearby table. "How did you become so idle?" Mozenrath suddenly sneered knowingly. "Ah that's the hitch. It's the problem with all great men. They are MEN." Moze threw himself in a chair thoroughly disgusted with himself and the inherited faults of his kind. "No matter what level we ascend to our instincts hold us back. Even you, my son, fall victim to this filthy human trait." Mozenrath sneered and looked out the window. This flaw he was denouncing was of course the male infatuation of the fairer sex. "It distracts us, keeps us from reaching our true potetional. It weakens us, makes us soft. A dark little demon in our hearts that temps us and makes us lazy and preoccupied." With sudden inspiration Moze jumped to his feet. "Than we shall over come it and reach level yet unknown!"  
  
"Father." Zak seemed to have an unsteady curious as to his fathers intensions.  
  
"We shall not leave this room, we shall not lay eyes upon the enemy, we shall not fall to their charms until we have both bested our personal best! It'll be a long night."  
  
Zak sighed and leaned against the wall, this wasn't good, not good at all.  
  
  
  
Nefret winced as a bang came from the lab. True to his word Mozenrath had locked the lab door and kept Zak a near prisoner. Even Nefret, hardly considered more than a girl, was denied entrance and dinner had to be carried in by a mumluk. Nef suspected if Mepho or Anubis had been female they'd be shunned as well. Men are a strange animal, Mozenrath the strangest of all.  
  
Through the Egyptians open door Chroias could be seen making her way down the hall, stopping briefly at the lab door to stare wonderingly at it. Probably more out of concern for her son than for want of Mozenrath.  
  
"Roais." Nef called.  
  
"What's up girl?" The demon sauntered into the room and sat down on the bed.  
  
"Brush my hair?" Nefret thrust the brush at the demon with a pleading look. Chroias rolled her eyes but consented. Nefret smiled softly as the demon ran the brush through the thick curls. If the men of the house were going on a testosterone jag it was only fair that the other half should indulge in a bit of feminine pampering. "Roais." Nefret's voice was relaxed on the point of being asleep. The demon hummed in response. "Is it possible to grow a soul?"  
  
"No. Your born with it and you die with it. Hopefully." Chroias added as Mumluk passed by the open door.  
  
"But If you have no soul it's impossible to love... And you love, you love the twins, me. Moze. How can that be if haven't grown a soul?" Nefret pondered.  
  
"You confuse the soul with the heart Nefret." Chroias slipped the brush through the curls once more before continuing. "They aren't' the same thing." With that the demon mussed the hair she had just put into order and hugged Nefret's shoulders. "Sleep well little minion."  
  
Long after Nefret heard Chroias leave her room she remained still and silent. Truly, as Chroias had said, she was confused. It was the Egyptian conviction that the heart was the seat of the soul. That it dwelled within the rooms of the vessel and rule over the body and mind from that sacred fortress. If her best friend had no soul how could she have it in her to be kind and loving? How could she sit and brush her hair without harming a hair on her head. Perhaps since her heart had no ruler it ran wild. This would explain why the demon could be smiling one moment and sending her enemies to hell the next..  
  
Nef sighed and got up. And here she thought she had been taught every square inch of love, ha! The moon had caught the glint of the gilded idol of Hathor gracing the dressing table. If Nefret had found herself in such turmoil over love back in Egypt the solution would be so easy. The time-honored tradition of sleeping in the shadow of the great statue of Hathor and looking to your dreams for guidance. "To bad I'm stuck here." Devine inspiration struck. Grabbing the stature Nefret set it on the windowsill so that the shadow it cast fell upon the foot of her bed.  
  
Night hours passed on and the moon rose high in the sky. With it the silhouette of the gilded goddess crept up the blankest covering Nefret's form until, just before midnight, it reached Nefret's head and shaded her eyes. The closed orbs opened with a brilliant sheen and Nefret smiled a smile of enlightenment before drifting off again.  
  
Chapter 236 (by chroais)  
  
"My father has completely lost his sanity!" Zak felt firmly convinced of this fact as Mozenrath repeatedly drilled him on incantations, reverse spells and enchantments. They'd been in the lab, locked up tight, no entrance save for mamlucks for near two days now. And quite frankly the separation from Domdi was causing more then one "distraction" in Zak's mind. Timid knocks at the door were answered by grunts from Mozenrath and pleading eyes from Zak. Mepho and Anubis seemed to be the only one's Mozenrath would allow in the room. And Apepe, well what would he want in the room for. He had a nice warm female body to snuggle up to at night instead of a hard spell book. Of course Zak knew the only answer to it, getting mom and dad together. But unfortunately it was hard to get anything together when you were stuck inside a lab.  
  
"Zak? How's everything holding up?" His sisters familiar mind voice rang inside his head. Thankfully the one female contact his father couldn't shut out was the connection between him and his sibling.  
  
"Nothing much. Dad's ranting about the evils of estrogen and such and if I have to look at one more spell I may just throw up on him."  
  
Tris's mental scoff resounded in Zak's brain. "I'd love to know what he thinks he knows about estrogen? When's the last time he was a woman?"  
  
Zak laughed out loud and Mozenrath's head snapped up from his book. "I assume you found a spell on draining blood from a body amusing?" his eyes brow shot up and Zak hid the blush along his cheek line.  
  
"Sorry dad. Just thinking about something." He professed innocently and Mozenrath scowled.  
  
"Sorry son, there's just too much of me in you to pull of innocent." He crossed the room and looked at his son. "Mind showing me what your reading?"  
  
Zak paled,(if that was at all possible). "Dad come on. Why would you be interested in.." But it was too late. Mzoenrath's gauntleted hand snapped forward and in a flutter of plastic removed a small paper back book from behind the spells. He calmly turned it over in his hands and read the cover out loud. "Playdespot?" he glared at his son and opened up a page to where a scantily clad woman sat with an inviting look. "I'm assuming you read this for the articles?"  
  
Zak tried to find an excuse without sounding sarcastic. "Well dad I am half human. And as you just managed to remind me, a male."  
  
Mozenrath fumed. "That's no excuse! This is exactly what I'm talking about! You and that Domdi girl are the exact reason you've been lax in your spells!!" he tossed the magazine aside like a dead bird.  
  
"Now hold up. Don't shove Domdi into the middle of this!" Zak stood in front of his father. Truly he could stare Mozenrath in the face between then Tris could, but his father still had a inch height over him. At this point in time he'd have given anything to close that distance.  
  
"I'm not dragging her into this! You brought her to this citadel!" Mozenrath launched back at his son. "And the least you could have done was warn me you were coming!"  
  
"And since when does a son need permission to come and visit his family? Zak's voice was turning shrill and his green eyes were begging to glow. "Your just jealous because mom threw you out of the bed!"  
  
It was Mozenrath's turn to blush now. "She did not throw me out! I walked out!"  
  
"I'm not blind nor am I incompetent." Zak threw back. "Look just go to mom and say your sorry. What ever you did can't be THAT bad! Can it?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tris wandered the halls with Her aunt. They had a lot of catching up to do and Nefret was willing to talk more then her mother was. "I've tried getting through their minds to find out what's wrong. But I think mom's got a block on me like dad does."she gestured and a couple of cream puffs came to them.  
  
"Well don't look at me. I'm not the one with the powers now am I." Nefret munched thoughtfully and scratched Anubis's head. "Come to think of it with the way your father's drilling Zak I wouldn't want to have any powers."  
  
"You know maybe I should try to talk to him. I've always been good at quelling his temper." Tris offered and tapped her foot. "Then again with the way he's feeling towards females right now I doubt if I'd have much luck."  
  
"So do I."  
  
"Well we've got to do something.! I hate seeing mom and dad like this. Their miserable without one another. It's like their sould have been separated!" Tris flouned out of the room leavening Nefret to wonder.  
  
"Too bad she doesn't know." Nefret chewed on a strand of hair. "To bad I don't know enough to help her." As it was, Nefret had begun to wonder. If Chroias didn't have a soul, then what about Zak and Tris? They were half human, did they have half a soul. Somehow she didn't think it worked that way. This whole bloody this was libel to drive her insane.  
  
"Nef girl you in there?" Chroias's voice called from behind her and Nefret yelled back as she turned.  
  
"Yeah I'm.." and that was as far as she got before her mouth feel open.  
  
Chroias's hair was gone. Well not completely gone. There as almost half and inch on her head and it had been shaved around her ears. A single forelock curled between her eyes and her horns, which had looked considerably smaller under all her green lock, now seemed to stand at least five inches from the top of her head. She looked, punkish!  
  
Chroias smiled at her friend. "Well?"  
  
  
  
Chapter 237 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret stumbled to her feet and circled her friend in shock. No, to be sure it wasn't' that she'd never seen a bald woman before. It had been quite a fashion trend in Egypt for the last few hundred years. It was just the fact that some hair was still left and that it was standing on en was what got her.  
  
"It's..er.. You missed as spot. If you shaved you head to wear ." That was all Nef could say. It was the only reason she had ever known for bold heads. The only reason she didn't let the temple shave her hair is because she disliked her wig so much she spent most of her time without it.  
  
"A wig?! And cover this up?" The now punk demon scoffed and sashayed to the nearest mirror to primp herself leaving Nefret to contemplate the new look from the back.  
  
The Egyptian was on the brink of collapse. The entire world had gone mad! Completely and utterly mad!!!! It was just. unnatural, even for them. She had tried to keep a stiff upper lip and the sense of reason through it all but that obviously wasn't getting her anywhere. The strain of trying to stand under the typhoon of chaos was breaking her. It was just better to let go and be swept away. "It's great!!" Nef ran up the mirror to admire Roias's reflection. "A nice alteration on a classic! Ya know I was thinking maybe I need a new look."  
  
"Perfect!" Chroias grabbed Nefret's head and began inspecting her hair. "Here's what we do, shave one side short, put spots on it, and dye the end black and."  
  
Nefret, terror in her eyes, ripped herself away from her friend and backed away slowly. "Actually I was just thinking of new eye makeup up and maybe more earrings.." Nefret was halfway across the room now holding her hands in front of her.  
  
"Your so boring!!!!" Chroias huffed.  
  
"Yeah, but whey you find a look that works you gotta stick with it." Nef tipped her hips and struck a pose. "Lucus, Don, disgusting despots. The Nef charm hasn't failed yet!"  
  
Chroias growled playfully and ran at the girl. "I think Moze is right, you do have to be taken down a notch or two!" Both girls screamed and laughed as they tore up the halls, Chroias with scissors in hand and Nefret with her arms plastered over her hair.  
  
  
  
Mozenrath looked up suddenly from his book as the shrill noise passed dangerously close to the all male restriction of the Lab. Zak, who was in the middle of writing out his last will and testament, nearly launched himself at the door. For days his only company had been his father and a few assorted mumluks. Oh and Trist when she could tear herself away from Apepe. The friendly sounds of the female voice of his mother and Aunt was like the smell of a feast to a starving man.  
  
"Listen to them!" Mozenrath snorted sharply bringing Zak to attention. "Women. Vain, self-consumed, dim-witted, Delilahs! Thy have no substance, no common sense. They are willful, faithless, bullheaded. if you let them son. Don't make my mistake. I have women taking over, roaming the halls, redecorating.. About then Zak started to block out the raving of his father. Instead the looked inward. "Tritst you gota help me before I throw myself off the balcony." The boy pleaded in his mind hopping his sister would pick it up.  
  
"Well before you hurt yourself let me tell you there's hope yet. Aunt and I have been speaking, we've go a wicked plan."  
  
Chapter 238 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias caught up to Nefret and held the scissors threatening over her head. "Come on now, maybe a bob cut would be cool! I'm sure Don would approve." She snipped the succors playfully but put them on a table.  
  
Nefret breathed a bit of air and gasped. "You and Moze have really gotta start sleeping together again. You've got way to much energy now then you ever had before."  
  
Chroias snorted, "I haven't noticed a change" she growled, suddenly no longer in the mood for play, and began to walk off. She didn't want to admit it, but Nefret was telling the truth. She missed the cuddling, (amongst other things),the all nighters and the bit of actual talking they managed afterwards. It had been those rare moments when she could get him to open up that Chroias had realized how much she loved him.  
  
Nefret ran up after her. "OH come on. Denari for your thoughts?"  
  
"Just reminding myself how hard it is to be a woman living with an impossible man."  
  
"You and every other female on this world." Nefret smiled and wrapped her arm around Chroias. "Don't brood over things, you look too much like Mozenrath when you do." At Chroias's hurt look she hugged her. "Come on now. Don"t worry about this little thing. Everyone has lovers tiffs now and then." She tugger Chroias off to her room. "Besides from as much as you and Moze resemble rabbit's, he can't hold up in the lab forever!"  
  
IF only Nefret could have known how very right she was!  
  
Mozenrath shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He'd already shredded the magazine his son had, not that he would have looked in it in the first place! But some things were getting tense.  
  
When he'd caught Zak with that cheesy thing he'd only been half angry/half sympathetic. After all, his son was a young man, he had urges same as any other. And he himself hadn't even hit his thirties and here he was, confining himself like some white haired old nit!  
  
Mozenrath looked at the door. Never before had it seemed so far away. And after the door was three flights of stair and a hundred feet to the sweet bliss of his bedroom and Chroias. Oh the image of her in bed with him. Grinning in the casual way she had, her eyes half lidded and blankets covering about that much. Her milk white arms wrapping around him and" Mozenrath shifted in his eat again and growled, chiding himself on his thoughts. This wasn't the first time he'd let his mind stray from magic in the past few days. And every time it did stray he seemed to get a little further along in the fantasy. Zak had even caught him wearing that dopey smile in his face and taken the opportunity to try and talk him out of all of this.  
  
Mozenrath glanced over at his son. Zak's head had fallen to the table and a small amount of drool had begun to push forward. He mumbled something that sounded like Domdi and then smiled to assure Mozenrath that was exactly what he'd said.  
  
Sneering, Mozenrath walked over and popped his son lightly on the back of the head. Zak shot up so fast he fell of the chair and grinned awkwardly at his dad. "Um hi, did I miss anything overly exciting?"  
  
Apepe hugged Tris's body to him. A self satisfied grin on his face. "Oh man, now I know why Moze is so upset as to not sleeping with you mom anymore." He grinned and Tris slapped him gently.  
  
"Apepe! That was absolutely tactless!" she chided and started to move away.  
  
"Now hold on!" Apepe grabbed her arm and pulled her back down with a laugh. "I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that he's understandably miserable without her, just like I'd be without you."  
  
"You know you really are an artist at that." Tris smirked and kissed him.  
  
"At what?"  
  
"At being charming!"  
  
Chroias sat at the dinner table chatting with Domdi. With Zak being stuck in the lab nonstop, poor Domdi had to have become miserable by now and was blushing every time he was even mentioned. Chroias had decided to take the opportunity to get to know her son's lover a bit better. Nefret was of course standing by, after all, a full grown demon, not to mention a full grown demon mother, had to be somewhat intimidating.  
  
  
  
Chapter 239 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret could see Domdi shift in her chair as Chroias leaned over making it quite clear she wanted the girls undevided attatnion.  
  
"How are you holding up dear. You look.. Pale." The demon observed. She failed to notice the reason for Domdi's sudden pailor was probably caused by nerves.  
  
"Oh about as well as you are I suppose. we are in the same boat. but you always look that way." Domdi suddenly blanched when the demon raised an eyebrow. "I mean pale, you always look pale. since you are a.. your.. You." If it wouldn't have made her look stupid the girl would have slapped herself in the head. She had never felt this nervous around her lovers mother. But now that the support of Zak was gone and the demon had been in less than happy the past few days, plus her certain discomforts, Domdi felt like every cell in her body would shake apart. She glanced to Nefret for help. The Egyptian in her reasoning simply raised the glass of wine and sipped it. Domdi taking the advice to heart gulped down her drink.  
  
"So you and Zak, you've been getting seriouse huh?" Chroias nudged the girl. She had gotten considerably less tense in the past few moments.  
  
"Yes. Seriouse." Domdi turned a lovesly shade of pink. Both Roais and Nef looked at each other and gave an eyeroll. "This seperation is hard. But his studies are important. I woudn't want to place myself over his education." Domdi said bravely in an attempt to gain browny points.  
  
"I would." The demon muttered. "Tell me dear. Do you devote yourself to my son. Do you cook for him? Domdi's shoulders slumped in something like disgrace. "No, I cant really cook you see.."  
  
"Uh huh." Chroias broke in. "And do you clean up after him?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Do you even do his shopping and pick out his clothes?" Chroias seemed to be getting edgy.  
  
"No." Domdi was shifting away in fear.  
  
"I see." Chroias leaned dangerously close to the girl and her eyes shifted to Nefret.  
  
The Egyptian's nervouse frown turned to a smirk when she saw the look in the demon's eye. She was enjoying this!  
  
Chroias had to smirk herself. She was enjoying making Domdi squirm a bit. Not to be mean, it was just in her nature. "Wonderful!!! God girl! I wouln'd abide by my son dating a timid, weak minded, little servant girl who jumps to her man's beck and call. I cant stand the type that servile type." Chroais giggled and turned to Nefret. "Sorry no offence to you girl."  
  
"None taken. Well if you'll escuse me I think I'll go do something servile now." Nefret grinned as she left the room. It seemd Domdi and Chorias were going to get along fine now, she felt no guilt about leaving them alone.  
  
"Now that's funny. She left right in the middle of dinner." Domdi observed after the door closed.  
  
"Tell me about it, she didn't even finish eating! For Nefret that's unheard of." Chroias commented. Both remaining dinner guest looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
  
  
Chapter 240 (By Chroias)  
  
Nefret hurried through the halls of the Citadel like a ferret on speed. She carried a specific parchment in her arms as she went past the doors of the lab and knocked timidly. she could only hope this plan would work. Tris had already agreed to help, as had Apepe. Well not at first, but Tris had 'talked' him into it. She mentally berated herself for even thinking of such a plot. Mozenrath was more then likely going to skin her alive for so much as thinking of it. If it wasn't for the fact that she cared so damn much about the two of them she never would have...  
  
"Yes...? Oh it's you." Mozenrath sneered as he saw Nefret. "What does she want/" he asked as Zak tried to peer out from behind him.  
  
Nefret scoffed. "Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault you two had a falling out!" she snapped back at him. "If you'd just stop acting like a spoiled child who'd been sent to his room..." she broke of at the infuriated look Mozenrath was gaing. "Well anyways Chroias isn't wanting to talk to you. She's speaking with Domdi and I think zak would be a major comfort to the girl right now." Nef smiled ...grinned actually. "We both know how intimidating Chroias can be."  
  
Mozenrath grumbeled something and stoped Zak from exiting."Zakurum,you stay here." he ordered and zak gave his father a surly look.  
  
"OH come on pop. HAven't I earned some time off for good behavior?" Zak pleaded with his father. His green eyes begged as he widened them.  
  
"No! And you won't be getting any time off unless you can start putting your nose to the books and learning those spells!" Mozenrath pointed a finger towards the table and Nefret started to go after him. If she couldn't get at least Zak pulled away from his father this plan would hinge on disaster. "Oh no! Unless your going to volunteer for an experiment you can just..."  
  
"Dare I ASK what's going on here?"  
  
"Mozenrath's head spun. Standing less then four feet away was his offspring Tristram  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tris stood there, tapping her foot and wearing a simple slip, meaning that she had obviously just come from a visit with Apepe. Mozenrath's eyes took one look at his daughter and his fatherly instincts took over.  
  
"What on Earth are you doing trapping around the Citadel in that?" He swung his own cape off his shoulders and flung it around hers. "Especially with him around." he nodded down the hallway at Apepe and suddenly stopped trying to cover his daughter when he saw the state of Apepe.  
  
Apepe hadn't noticed the father yet, He was calmly redoing his pants with a pleasant smile on his face and humming a cheery tune. Obviousely he had come to see what was talking so long. "Hey Tris, what's the hold..." Apepe looked up to see Mozenrath starring at him with a miz of pure shock and vile, seething hatred in his eyes.  
  
Apepe immediately backtracked. "I mean...umm. Tris how nice to see you...here...in...this Citadel...with your father." He looked up at Mozenrath's face and tryed another grin. "Too late for that isn't it?"  
  
Mozenrath was sure his eyes were turning pure red and his ears were smoking. "Tris..."he said in a tightly controlled voice. "Go into the library with you brother."  
  
"Moze don't you think your..."  
  
"Nefret! You get in there to. I don't want any interference." Mozenrath jabbed a finger at the big door, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on Apepe.  
  
Nefret didn't take a second oppertunity. "Come on." she ushered Tris into a room.  
  
"Sis!" Apepe begged desperately.  
  
"Sorry. You got yourself into this." Nefret grabbed Tris's arm and had to shove her into the room to get her to go.  
  
Zak poked his head out. "If I were you, I'd run very very fast."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chroias and Domdi had just begun to get into an intelligent conversation when Apepe came barreling down the stares at top speed. Mozenrath right on his heels.  
  
"Get back here you little waif. I swear when I get a hold of you!" he was about to fling an enormous fireball at the boy which surely would have incinerated his head when Chroias stepped in front of him.  
  
"What in the name of the gods is going on here?" She yelled at Mozenrath with her fangs bared.  
  
Chapter 241 (by Nefret) *Updated!*  
  
Mozenrath put on the brakes at the sight. He stopped short of impaling his head on her fangs. "Out of the way woman. This is a fathers responsibility!"  
  
Chroias nearly fumed. "Well FATHER do you need reminding of who exactly bore the pain of birthing those two? Two words for you Moze, fangs and horn!"  
  
With what little dignity he could gather the sorcerer pulled his back up to a proud stance and lifted his head. Apepe had sidestepped, putting the table between himself and his willing assassin. Moze caught him with a glance and sneered. "This.. BOY has been defiling my daughter! This common, filthy, low class, bastered child has been WITH my daughter." Moze was unable to bring himself to name the act his sweet innocent daughter had been involved in.  
  
"And you just now caught onto this?" Chroias chuckled mockingly. "What did you think he moved to Agrabaha just to be closer to his sister?"  
  
Mozenrath's nostrils flared. "Forgive me. I though my daughter might be a bit more reserved than her mother."  
  
It was a wonder the entire citadel didn't explode with the way the demons eyes flared. Her nose almost bumped with that of Mozenrath's as she closed in. "You never seemed to complain much." Each word was pronounced with burning clarity.  
  
"It's hard to complain when you cover my mouth with." Mozenrath's eyes suddenly flashed up from the demons face. Apepe was nearly escaped out to the kitchen door. Taking his steps in wide breaths Mozenrath caught the boy by the cheep bead pectoral he wore with pride. "You BOY out!! I want you out of my Citadel, out of my land, and out of Agrabah!" Mozenrath's fist twisted snapping the thread that held the beads together. Multi-colored balls bounced over the marble floor like so much rain. The lose shown in Apepe's eyes. "Out of Arabia period! Do you understand? You will return to Egypt to the hellish little slum you came from. And never return or I will break more than your jewelry." Mozenrath's face was so close to the boys the words hit him in hot bursts.  
  
Apepe, for his nature, was surprisingly genuine in the proud look in his eyes. "I have vowed never to return to my fathers land until I can bring my sister through the gates at my side."  
  
Mozenrath chuckled disarmingly. "Such a poetic speech for a man who cant even write his own name." The sorcerer's aggressive intent suddenly returned. "Than don't go home little boy, but go someplace just as far." He backhanded Apepe into the wall.  
  
Chroias had never really connected with the boy, but he shared her friend's eyes, and now they were closed in pain. "You will not!" the demoness exclaimed as she grabbed Mozenrath's shoulder and whirled him away from Apepe. "You will not throw him out." She yelled as Mozenrath was unable to stop himself and crashed into the dinning table.  
  
Mozenrath stood back up with unexpected dignity. "You wish him to stay, have him. But when I inevitably end up killing him the blood will be on your hands!"  
  
Chroias looked to Apepe. The youthful ignorance shown in his face. It was a matter of honor now, Apepe would stay and Mozenrath would end up killing him. What Chroias did next was for everyone's well being. "Get out of here Apepe. You're no longer welcome."  
  
The boy nodded with respect. "As you wish Lady. I'll just say goodbye.."  
  
Mozenrath caught him before he got to the door. "You will not."  
  
"My sister than! You will let me say goodbye to Neffie."  
  
"No. I will not have her involved in this." Mozenrath pushed Apepe to the front door.  
  
Apepe walked out on his own will but not before adding his final thought. "Your just afraid of her."  
  
  
  
It was a good thing no one had gone to say goodbye to Neffie, because she wasn't at home. Using the combined powers of the twins she'd taken a nice little trip to Tarturs. More specifically she had gone to visit Chroias mother.  
  
"So you see Lady Persephone, I need your help. For your daughter." Nefret added when the skeptical look came across the goddesses face.  
  
"You're asking for something that could leave my Chroias very vulnerable. I worry about that." Her honey voice rang.  
  
Nefret smiled. "In my hands Lady, there is nothing to worry about. I would as soon as sacrifice myself as to give her a scratch. I love you daughter my Lady. And Mozenrath loves her, we just must intervene to let the latter feeling be known. You have not seen how miserable she is. I have."  
  
Persephone nodded with a graceful smile and stood. "This way Nefret." The goddess lead the little priestess to a large golden vault and returned holding a golden box with a precious grip. "I'm sure you'll recognize this." Persephone sighed as she opened the box doors.  
  
Nefret bolted as she object came into view. Inside was a winged sun disk wrapped in two serpents. "Yes. A Ur-Uatchti." This symbol was scatted all over Egypt, above temple doors, hanging on necklaces, painted on walls. It was a protection against underworldly creatures.  
  
"Not a, THE Ur-Uatchi. The original produced by the god you Egyptians call Horus to defeat the evil demon god Set. It leaves all demons and those not of a light god helpless as lambs." Persephone closed the doors and approached Nefret. "I entrust this to you child. You must hide it and do not open the door unless you intend the consequences it brings. You must understand this will effect my grandchildren, Zak and Trist, as well. They must not handle it. Only you, mortal and priestess of the good Hathor should use it."  
  
Nefret received the gift with true humbleness. And as the twins energy swept by her she thanked the goddess.  
  
"Get what you were after auntie?" Zak asked as he reached for the box.  
  
"I did. Lets hide it under my bed and go see if Apepe is still breathing."  
  
  
  
Chapter 242 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret hated to do this to Chroias, she really did. But she was at her last constraints. They were not only driveling her crazy, but the effect had spread to their own children and even her own family. Poor Apepe was meeting Tris tonight in a safer place, and Zak had wisely decided to haul Domdi out of the Citadel and set up camp in one of the village houses below. Nef was only half sorry about this, it would have been nice to have a bit of company for this little excursion.  
  
Clutching the object from persephione close to her, Nefret snuck closer to the room where Chroias was sleeping. Once, she hadn't been able to pass this room without hearing something that would make an innocent woman blush and run for cover. Now it was filled only with the soft noise of Chroias's breathing and the wind sweeping thought the window.  
  
Nefret entered the room quietly and took a look at her sleeping friend. she looked so peaceful, so at rest. Except for the frown on her face and the shiver that caressed her skin every time the wind touched her. She mumbled something in her sleep and turned over, a small bloody tear crossing her face.  
  
Nefret felt her heart clench for her friend. Sympathy had never been her forte, at least not one she showed. But well, she'd do anything for her friend. Holding the object above her head, Nefret did what she had to do to make the effect complete. the wind tore into the room, tossing a vase to the floor and scattering the petals around Chroias and Nefret like a whirlwind. yet despite the noise, Chroias only twitched an eyebrow and moaned. A thin, whispy trail of green and yellow pulled out of the tips of her fingers and entered the stone slowly.  
  
Chroias whimpered once as though in pain, and then settled back down. Nefret looked down at her friend and gasped. She looked different, smaller somehow. Her horns were almost nonexistent, her hair looked bleached and limpas even her strong frame seemed to have become weak in seconds. For a moment. Nefret regretted what she'd done, she didn't know Chroias would look so...helpless.  
  
Nefret looked at the magical piece and saw it glow a soft green and felt the warmth and strength from inside. She calmly reminded herself that this would be worth it,if only she could be sure this was working!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Apepe pulled Tris close and brought his lips to hers. he wanted to make this time last, since at any moment Mozenrath could walk in and fry him on the spot. he could be sure what this feeling was yet. he'd always been the sort of fellow who'd taken things for granted. Lived for the moment, and finding girlfriends had certainly never been a problem. Tris certainly hadn't been the first lover he'd ever had, but well, there was something very different about her.  
  
Could he be...in love?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Zakurum touched Domdi's stomach and pulled her in for a second kiss. She was so soft, so tender., no wonder he had been miserable being stuck in his fathers lab! It was almost enough to make one forget the fantastic pleasures of the flesh. Slowly, he leaned over to Domdi's ear and sang softly.  
  
"I could stay away, just to hear you breathin. Watch you smile while you are sleeping, while your far away and dreamin. I could spend my life in this sweet surender. I could stay lost in this moment forever. Every moment spent with you is a moment i treasure. Don't wanna close my eyes, don't wanna fall asleep. Cause I'd miss you baby, and I don't wanna miss a thing." he watched as she turned over and smiled gently.  
  
"You are such a little shit." she slapped him lightly and brought her kiss down.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nefret snuck into the room Mozenrath had 'moved' into. She half expected him to be awake, but thankfully found herself wrong.  
  
Mozenrath was asleep on his desk, head lolled on a book and eyes closed gently. Nefret had to admit, he was handsome when he wasn't trying to be tyrannical and overthrow the seven deserts. She ruffled his hair and smiled when he grumbled and adjusted his turban without thinking or awakening. The candlelight flickered over the pale features, and Nefret could see a wetness on his cheek, just the barest flicker of water there, it trickled down from his eyes, over his cheek, past his lips, and onto his chin where it darkened the paper bellow.  
  
Nefret shook her head. She had always suspected there was more then a simple lovers connection between the two of them. Now she was positive. 'If only they wouldn't be such idiots. If only they could just be close again.' she shook her head and began her work. As she finished, she could see Mozenrath hadn't moved from his position. Slowly, she grabbed a sheet from the bed and flung it over Mozenrath's body gently, removing his turban and kissing his forehead gently. After all, she loved him as much as Chroias did, only, in a different way.  
  
Work finished, Nefret left her 'master' alone, to brood over his dreams, and hopefully...his love  
  
  
  
Chapter 243 (by Nefret) The red eyes of the demon slid open and she breathed heavily. "What is this?" Even those words brought her to exhaustion. The simple act of breathing made her ribs ache and threaten to collapse. Slowly she turned over and wet her lips in confusion. "Nef. Tris. Zak." Each name came out no more than a strained grunt. The demon closed her eyes to think. 'What is this, what has happened to me?' A panic seized the demon's mind. She thrashed to the best of her ability. The act was now desperate and mindless, panic had claimed her mind and, coved in soft sheets and the luxury of her soft mattress, the demon wondered if this might be a dream. Nothing seemed quite real, that is until her hand bashed into something solid. Tossing her head to the side the demon was brought into harsh reality. In the nightstand stood a knife dead on it's end trapping a scrap of paper. With a whine Chroias ripped the paper away and held it limply above her eyes.  
  
"Your friends and children have fled in fear. We have Mozenrath at the old tombs in the western black desert. If you wish him safe come for us, and prepare to pay heavily for his life."  
  
Chroias had to read over it a few times before the meaning stuck in her mind. This was a ransom note. Mozenrath was in danger. They'd kill him. Whatever had happened to her must have happened to him. He was helpless. He'd die, and he'd go thinking...  
  
Chroias's red eyes welled up and she looked away. "He'll die thinking I hate him." The thoughts whirled in the demon's mind. "No, it can't happen this way. I have to get up. Get up Chroias!" The demon grunted and groaned as she forced her weak body to sit up and flung near lifeless legs over the edge of the bed. "Come on you bloody." She sucked in her breath and swung up on her feet. It seemed she had triumphed for a few moments as she remained upright. The moment she made a move, however, she lost her balance and would have crashed to the floor if she hadn't caught herself with the night stand. "I cant.." The demon cried in the feeblest voice she'd ever possessed.  
  
A sudden sound renewed her efforts. Outside a horse neighed and a long high-pitched female yodel rang out and the beats of horse's hooves burst out. "Oh no you don't. You're not taking him so easily."  
  
Using the walls as support Chroias plotted down the halls as fast as she could following the sound to the west end of the Citadel and exiting the building through the kitchen and beside the main stables. Against the blaring of desert wind Chroias could make out two mounted forms on a sand dune out into the desert. The demon squinted to block out the gray light of the sky the figures were plastered against.  
  
One seemed to be male, in a black turban and a windstorm guard covering his lower face. The rest of him was covered in miles and miles of black fabric made up into coats, vests and shirts. His pants were equally immense and ended in black boots shined to the max. He seemed a proud figure as his body followed the nervously pacing of his horse to perfect grace.  
  
Along his side was a figure that the demon took for female even if she was coved from heads to toe. Her hair was sheltered under a long black head veil that draped around the small of her back. Her face was covered in a redishbrown veil carefully embroidered in gold. The rest of her ensemble included a red tunic top with flowing sleeves that reached her knees but was split up the sides allowing her to straddle her legs over her mount. Her black flowing pants and tiny red curled slipper barely showed. The only flesh the demon could see were the smoky eyes peeping between the head and face veil and the fingertip that clutched the reigns were stained red with henna.  
  
The demon stared the girl right in the eyes in a glare of sheer death. The veiled woman smiled. You couldn't' see her lips, but her eyes narrowed and creased, a define smart-aleck smile. Suddenly the girl gave a sharp yodel and flipped her horse around galloping out of sight below the dune as her male counterpart followed.  
  
"Oh no you don't." He demon growled out as she thrust herself at the nearest horse from the stable. With a cry of effort the demon pulled herself up on the mount and nearly collapsed over the horses neck. But she managed to kick the horse into a swift gate. It didn't take long to reach the crest of the dune and below on the desert basin appeared the two masked villains. The black coats of the male whipping around and the voluminous veils of the female ride the wind. Chroias was breathing heavily and gripping the mane of her mount in a death grip but she refused to give up the chase. She know where they were heading, the western desert, to the old tombs.  
  
The veiled woman looked behind her as she bounced upon her running horse. She grinned and whipped her head back around. "She's right on our heals."  
  
The man in the black turban grinned at his half sister. "About now Mozenrath should be finding the ransom note for Chroias. Our two accomplices will lead him right after us. We'll all meet at the ruined tombs and have a surprise reunion." He chuckled and whipped up his horse.  
  
"We're awful you know that?" The veiled woman looked back and noticed the demon was gaining on them quicker than was expected. Throwing her head back she kicked up her horse and gave out a yodel that bounced off the 4 corners of the desert and enticed the demon.  
  
  
  
Chapter 244 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath groaned and tried to lift himself to the desk. Absently, he noted he'd been covered with a blanket. His whole body ached as he cracked his neck and stumbled over to a mirror. "Oh my head!" eh growled. "Roi..." Mozenrath stopped dead in the middle of yelling for her. He grimaced and remembered she wouldn't come to see what was wrong. Scoffing, he spun around and threw open the windows. the moon glowed on his face, outlining it dramatically as a horse neighed bellow.  
  
'A Horse?'  
  
Mozenrath looked down bellow to see two figures riding on a horse bellow. A man and a woman from the looks of it. The man was doned in well designed appeal. A pair of black pants with silver lines streaking through them and small mirrors imbedded in the fabric. His chest remained bare but an elaborate headdress and face make covered his features, all save for glowing green eyes. A long scythe, like the one's that death is always depicted carrying, was held in his hands and he swung it around twice, the pointing it towards the Citadel.  
  
The other, the woman, seemed to smile at him from a distance. She wasn't as well dressed as the man, but it was obvious she had a confidence above his own. her clothing was what could be described as a formfitting burka, covered every inch, and yet still showed everything. It's color was that of a midnight when evil comes and hatred roams the land. She lifted above her head a bow and notched an arrow to it.  
  
Mozenrath heard the sharp sound of the arrow go whizzing past his head and saw the note attached to it's wood. He spun back around to see the man with the scyth swirl it in the air once again. A wild glow went through the air and the horse vanished without a trace.  
  
Mozenrath hurried over to the note. He yanked the arrow from the wall and ripped the letter from it. As he opened and read it, his face filled with fear. It was short, but to the point  
  
'To the Lord of the Black Sands,  
  
We have your woman ,the demon Chroias. Come to the catacombs and face us as a man would, or we will make her death ring through the seven deserts.  
  
If you bring the wench, she dies.  
  
If you bring the children, she dies.  
  
If you being the boy, she dies.  
  
You have till dawn. Follow the magic.  
  
  
  
Mozenrath clutched the note in his hand and incinerated it in moments. He could follow the magic trail left behind easily. But that was not his first concern.' They've got Roi.' his mind wandered.' Dear gods they've got Roi.'  
  
Mozenrath felt a wet stain cross his cheek and shook his head. Whipping the tear away. He and Roi had been in dangerous situations before, but they'd always been...together. But with the falling out, if she died...  
  
"No!" Mozenrath shouted aloud. "I won't let her die like that!" he called and transported himself to where the strangers had been. The air stunk with a magic unfamiliar to him and he sneered at it's presence. "And when I get a hold of those basterds. I'll make them suffer as never before!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The two strangers watched from a dune far enough away that he could not see." Perhaps we went a might to far?" the man questioned.  
  
The woman swung the bow over her back "No. We've gotten him angry. That was our intention. He will follow the magic we left closely. So I'd suggest we begin to leave a trail for him, lest he walk to our very mouths."  
  
"Oh you are really enjoying this too much."  
  
Chapter 245 (by Nefret)  
  
Chroias was tried when she arrived as the catacombs. She began to worry she has come to the wrong place. Somewhere along the line the two Bedouins she'd been following disappeared over a sand bank and where not to be seen again. Still she brought her hoarse to a halt at the catacombs gate. Nervously it paced as the demon scanned the scene.  
  
"No sign of.." She broke off as something red fluttered behind the gate. As if she realized she had been caught the female Bedouin sauntered into view between the gateposts. Roias's eyes narrowed as the strange figure stood there with that same eyes only smile. Chroias waited for the next move, waited to see Mozenrath anywhere, in chains, beat up, bruised and bleeding, as long as she could see he was alive. The impertinent girl only stood there. smiling.  
  
"We'll you wanted me, here I am!!!" The demon screamed out over the sands. The girl nodded slightly and turned on her hells breaking into a run to the underground labyrinth. The demon growled and hit the sands. Her strength had returned slightly, though not from the physical capabilities, it was all mental now.  
  
The catacombs were lite only by tiny far spaced wall sconces but Chroias could here the slippered feet beating ahead of her. Putting on a burst of speed capable by only one in a rush to save her most beloved Chroias rounded the corner and caught the Bedouin girl by the arm. She didn't even make a gasp, her mouth stayed clamed shut.  
  
"Where's you pretty tongue now?" Chroias swung the girl around to face her. The girl shut her eyes and ducked out to way in a near graceful roll. The demon was not put off however. With a one failed swoop she kicked the girl to her knees and raised her fist. "I have no time to play with you!"  
  
A male grunt rang out as something flowing and black swept in front of the grounded girl. A solid built forearm blocked the punch from hitting it's intenended victim. Chroias growled as she forced herself to stop, it was no use wasting what little strength she had left. Even if she had hit the girl she probably wouldn't even had made a bruise. In the time afforded to him the male Bedouin picked up his partner and they were off again down the corridor. Not even a retaliation. They could both see the demon was weak and vulnerable, but neither attempted an attack.  
  
"Cowards." Chroias growled as she began down the hallway again.  
  
  
  
Mozenrath rode his horse to the catacomb gates. The kidnappers stood on their mounts just feet away. Moze looked around for any signs of his love. None. That worried him the most. Chroias would have put up a fight, but there were no marks in the sand, no scratches on the wall, and for that matter no scratches on the kidnappers.  
  
"By your lovely invitation I guessed you wished my presence?" Mozenrath quipped. Both masked strangers nodded. "Not talking eh? Not very good hosts are we?" Moze suddenly advanced on the two.  
  
The male whipped up his arm in such a way that it brought Moze to a dead stop. He carefully configured his fingers and a streak of magic appeared to form letters. "follow us." Spelled the swirling threads. Both villains burst into dust and as the sparking particles formed a tight ball Moze reached out to capture it. just before he laid a hand on it the ball of magic zoomed into the catacombs.  
  
Feeling none much for games Mozenrath took off after it with a curse that would burn the ears of an innocent one. The sparkling thread of magic made up what light lacked in the catocomes as it slowly burned out of the atmosphere. Ahead Moze could hear the metal grind of the scythe running against the walls. It was close now, he was closing in.  
  
  
  
The demons breath baited as the heave boot sounded interlaced with tiny pats of soft souled slippers echoed louder off the walls. There were still close Any closer and she' be able to see them.  
  
  
  
Mozenrath grinned as her came to a turn in the hall, just beyond that he could hear his two "leaders" resting. The tap of the scythe as it was rested on the wall was a dead giveaway.  
  
  
  
Chroias grasped the wall as she caught breath. She sucked it in as a noise came from just behind the corner. Whispering. An evil grin graced her face.  
  
  
  
Moze swept from behind the wall in a lunge but caught nothing but air. He looked up in confusion.  
  
  
  
Chroias bolted from the wall and swung into the next hallway fully expecting to encounter the Bedouins. Nothing. She looked ahead of her in awe.  
  
  
  
Before each of them lay a room, a wide room, completely empty. Each wall was perforated with carved inlets holding skeletons. To many to count. The morbid display of life's remains wasn't what brought a smile to the sorcerers face, nor was it what brought the tears to the demons eyes. At the opposite end of the room the lovers could see each other, standing in the doorway.  
  
"Roi." Moze breathed as they both fell into a run into each others arms. "I thought they'd killed you! When I got the note I."  
  
"But it was ME who got the note. You're the one who was kidnapped!" Chroias pulled away. Something didn't feel right here.  
  
"No, It was you!" Mozenrath's lips pulled down again. "You always have to turn things around!"  
  
"I do not, I came all the way out here I think I know who was kidnapped and who wasn't!" The demon's face left little to discuss. Now that it seemed they were both as safe old animosities arose.  
  
  
  
Four masked villains watched from a ledge above. The man with the scythe dropped his head in this hands. "Those two."  
  
"Well lets carry this thing out." The woman in the burka motioned the man in the black turban with a wink.  
  
He smiled and winked back before turning behind him to pull a heavy leaver. With a groan and a burst of dust the walls came to life. Slowly they slid together, sliding over the only exits and leaving an ever shrinking box. Chroias and Mozenrath stopped their bickering to notice they were about to be squished.  
  
Chapter 246 (by Chroias)  
  
The two villains who had been leading Chroias stopped as they watched. "Are you sure they can pull this off?" the female asked with a voice only half afraid. "Chroias is so weak, and Mozenrath doesn't appear to be faring well either." she spun a wooden staff in her hands. the plan was far from over yet, and now was only the beging.  
  
"They will be fine. Both are resilient." the male with the scythe cleaned his nails with the blade. "Besides, one won't let the other die."  
  
The woman nodded. he was right, she hoped.  
  
~~~~~~~`  
  
Chroias snarled and immediately felt strangled. She feel to the floor and tried to breath with little success. "Moze..."she coughed out.  
  
"Chroias what's the matter with you?" he snapped, trying to edge the concern out of his voice. The minute he touched her he found out. her skin felt like dead leaves, she seemed smaller, weak even. As she stood, Mozenrath realized they no longer looked eye to eye, but he now hovered over her slightly. Worry creased the line on his face. "Roi.. what's wrong?" he stated with only half the arrogance he'd had before.  
  
chroias shrugged his hands off. "No time." she gestured with her magic and shook when it did not respond. "You have to get us out." she leaned against a rock for support and looked pleadingly at him.  
  
Mozenrath nodded and put his hands to the wall, in a sudden surge, the walls lighted up with blackness and exploded into the dust. he shielded Chroias from the falling rubble and leaned over her while she collected her breath. "So..."he tried to think of something to say when he caught sight of her new hairdo. he toyed with the lock of hair for a moment and smiled. "Is that a new look?"  
  
Chroias grinned weakly. "Yeah.Ya like?"  
  
Mozenrath felt himself blush brightly. "Roi..I am sor..."  
  
"Don't you dare..." Chroias motioned to him. "Talk to me like I'm dying. I'm just not feeling so good." she started to sit up and moaned in pain.  
  
Mozenrath brought his arm around her waist and helped her to her feet. "What happened. why can't you move right?"  
  
"I don't know. One minute I was fine, and the next..."she shrugged. "I'm sure it has something to do with those strangers! I swear when i get my hands on those little shits..."she made a slicing motion through the air that made Mozenrath grin.  
  
"Now there's the demon I'm spending my life with!" he kissed her cheek gently." But in order to..."he made th slashing motion." We have to find them first."  
  
"That's our cue."  
  
The four villains appeared in the slash of a scythe and a wave of green magic. "You speak of us sorcerer." the one with the Smokey eyes said in a slited and roughly accented voice. "You have found your lover again. Now do you wish her powers returned?"  
  
Mozenrath would have surged forward, but couldn't, not and leave Chroias practically defenseless. "What did you do to her." he flung up a ball of magic and the man with the scythe swung, deflecting the energy and sending it into the sands.  
  
"No attacking." the man said and flared his green eyes at the sorcerer.  
  
Mozenrath growled something under his breath, something that promised an ill fate for the scythed man if he ever got a hold of him. "All right. How do I get her power back?"  
  
The man standing beside the girl with the smoky eyes motioned to the door. "Go through our catacombs. Only by working together can you find what you seek?" as the man spoke the burkaed woman seemed to be concentrating slowly the group levitated into the air.  
  
"Wait." Chroias managed. "Why did you bring us here? What is the point of all this?"  
  
The group didn't answered. Simply vanished the way they came, by scythe and green magic.  
  
  
  
Chapter 247 (by Nefret)  
  
"I don't' like the look of those 4 at all!" Moze mumbled as he shifted his shoulder as to give Chroias a stronger support to lean on. "The guy with the scythe looks awfully shady. And don't get me started on that girl with the bad accent!" The useless chatter wasn't much more than a distraction from the danger and dark of the catacombs.  
  
"I'm confused by their agenda on the whole!" Chroias snorted. "They don't seem to want to hurt us, yet they get us out her, helpless and going around in circles! I can't figure out what the hell they're after!"  
  
"That's the part I'm worried about." Moze growled as he stopped and leaned Roais against the wall. "We'll find out soon enough, I can feel it in the air." Moze almost shivered as a creek moaned from the wall and the scatter of mice echoed around the narrow hallways. He turned back to Chroias, who was grinned in a silly way. "One good thing did come out of it." He leaned in.  
  
"And what's that?" the demon tipped her head and softly smiled.  
  
"You'll let me do this again." Moze whispered just inches from her face and leaned in for a kiss.  
  
A stifled female giggled echoed dimly from above. It was quickly squelched by a clap, no doubt the sound of hand clasping over the amused woman's face. "It seems were being watched." Chroias pulled away and looked up.  
  
"kinda makes it exciting huh?" Moze gave a rouge wink that made Chroias half smile half scowl.  
  
"I suppose we.." Chroias suddenly broke into a coughing fit.  
  
With worry twisting his features Moze picked up Chroias arm again and slung it over his shoulder. "We better find our power again. In whatever form it may be in." The demon nodded in agreement.  
  
The man in the black turban shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think it's wise." He grumbled as the man with the scythe began to mutter a few word.  
  
The scythed man stopped mid spell to look suspired at the other man. "They must rely on each other for this to work."  
  
The turbaned name turned suddenly and wagged his finger. "You don't poke a lion even when it's caged! 'Cause when it gets out.." he didn't finish, he didn't have to him meaning was clear.  
  
The woman with the Smokey eyes patted the turbaned man on the back and rubbed his shoulder lovingly. "There once was a lion with a torn in it's paw, and a mouse came along. The lion growled and bared it's teeth at the rodent. But when the mouse pulled the thorn from his paw he was nothing but grateful."  
  
The black turban bobbed as the man gave a defeated nod. Scythed man smiled and began his spell again.  
  
Mozenrath had noticed Chroias leaning on him more and more, and finally he just swept her off her feet despite her abjections to being carried. After a while she got used to the idea. "These old catacombs must be from when the city was populated.. The names are along the skeleton bed. Abdul Has.." Chroias suddenly stopped as Mozenrath lunged forward. "Moze, what is it!"  
  
The sorcerer blinked three times quickly and opened his eyes as wide as they would go. "The lights have gone out! I can't see my hand in front of my face." Moze explained as he set the demon down.  
  
Chroias looked around in confusion. The sconces weren't all that bright, but they still burned. "No, Moze, the light is still on. Can't you see?" She turned to him suddenly.  
  
Moze fumbled and rubbed his eyes. "Yes I hear the crackle of the flames now... I just. cant see!" The sorcerer was in panic now.  
  
Chroias grabbed his hands and lead him safely to his knees beside her. Carefully she inspected the orbs of his eyes. "Moze, your eyeballs. they've gone completely black!"  
  
Moze, strangely, seemed to relax at that. "Than it's only a spell. I was worried I'd actually gone blind." He ran a hand through his ruffled hair. "Well now what? You down and I can't see."  
  
Chroias kissed his forehead. "I have an idea. Pick me up. I'll tell you were to go. I'll be your eyes. You just walk.  
  
  
  
Chapter 248 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath scooped Chroias off her feet and held her carefully in his arms. It felt good to have her solid, yet feminine body close to his again. If things worked out right, they be even closer to each other tonight. He grinned thoughtfully and clutched Chroias's body tighter. "So I've got a seeing eye demon now. Where do we go from here?"  
  
Chroias looked out ahead of her. Normally, with her demon eyes, it would be like hawk vision, but with her powers depleted, it was no better then a normal humans. Squinting in the dim light, Chroias could just make out the turns and twists. "Ok walk forward till I tell you to stop."  
  
Walking just straight forward was difficult, even by placing one foot directly in front of the other he had a difficult time. And having to balance correctly with Chroias's added weight wasn't making the task any easier. Oh Gods it was going to feel good to lie down in a warm bed tonight with Chroias snuggled up beside him.  
  
"Ok stop." Chroias said and tapped him to make sure he heard. "Pivot on your left foot and move a step or two to the side."  
  
"Which side?"  
  
Chroias though for a moment and tapped his shoulder. "This side."  
  
"Okay." Mozenrath carefully shifted Chroias's weight and managed to turn the corner easily. "I never realized how much energy went into something typically so simple!" he complained and Chroias hugged onto his neck.  
  
"Ok. We've got a straight hallway for a while, but afterward i can see five or six doors. Don't know which one to go through." She sniffed the air for traces of the four who had lead them here.  
  
"I can't sense them either ,not even my magic is giving off any but the slightest wisp of mana trail around here." Mozenrath grumbled something and moved forward with Chroias clutched to him. He could feel the soft lock of her punked hair close to his face and smelled the vanilla shampoo she used all the time. He laughed softly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You don't have any hair left and you still washed it?" Mozenrath kissed her forehead and Chroias muffled a giggle.  
  
"OK. So I like a clean scalp." She tapped his right shoulder. "There's a door on this side."  
  
"Describe what it looks like."  
  
"Big, made from mahogany. Got a small inscription on the place where the key should be." she leaned closer and Mozenrath knelt carefully so she could get a better look. "Shoot. It's in Egyptian. Of all the times not to have Nefret around!"  
  
"What does it look like? Describe the pictures on it." Mozenrath waited while Chroias told him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"They make a pretty picture like that." The tall man standing beside the red clad girl spoke.  
  
"Yes." said the green eyed one. "It's good to see things getting back to normal. Or at least as normal as they ever get for us."  
  
Smoky eyes clapped her hand on the green eyes male. "Don't worry. Perhaps when all this is through, things will calm down."  
  
Everyone looked at her, shock evident in their eyes.  
  
"Or not."  
  
"Don't fear." The burkaed woman put an arm around her. "After this semi- domestic dispute, we can handle anything."  
  
  
  
Chapter 249 (by Nefret)  
  
"Bird, err. Mouth? Horned snaked, and a little squiggly line!" Chroias ended her squinting and looked away from the inscription and back to Mozenrath's face. He was deep in concentration, his now blackened eyes closed tight.  
  
Many a time did Moze watch Nefret squiggle down her hieratic, a fast way of writing hieroglyphics, but his interpretations were very poor. "Damn that girl for never explaining it to me! I swear she did it just so she'd have her own secret language to mock me with."  
  
"So you don't know a single word of what the hell this says?" Chroias sighed.  
  
"Here..place.....in..dark ... lies.. Father.of..you. ruler. land.. Here be..Deeeessst." Moze pulled out the word as he interpreted the inscription. "Destine!" He suddenly jolted, nearly dropping Chroias.  
  
The demon held on tighter and smoothed his ruffled hair. "Shhh.shh. Don't take the inscriptions so literally. We both know were Distain is."  
  
Mozenrath put up a stiff upper lip to cover for his earlier jumpiness. "I know perfectly well! This must have been the tomb the old nut prepared for himself. Bastered will never lie here in peace." Moze grinned at the thought.  
  
"Why would her have it written in Egyptian? Not very Muslim of him.." Chroias snorted.  
  
"He was no saint." Moze mumbled, but refused to delve into that. "The old coot was obsessed with the magic of Egypt. He felt Hieroglyphs held magic in their very script. I'd listen to him babble on about how all the best spells were out of Egypt. That's why I went to Egypt myself to get a piece of magic. Funny, I ended up with a curse."  
  
Chroias hit him playfully. "You don't hold onto a curse so furiously as you do with.." The demon pulled and soon the creek of old hinges told Mozenrath the gateway was opening. "we must have just enough to unlock it..Oh." The demon let out.  
  
"What, what is it?" the sorcerer stretched his neck around as if he could actually see any better from a different angle.  
  
"An amulet, in midair.. Glowing.. Green and blue." Chroias broke off as the amulet began to slowly spin. A beautiful winged sun wrapped in snakes. It looked familiar somehow.. "It's beautiful."  
  
"I'll take your word for it." Mozenrath laughed and proceeded carefully into the room. "What else is around?"  
  
"Just an empty sarcophaguses.. And a plaque written in Arabic this time." Chroias pointed out almost cheerily.  
  
"Congratulations!" a voice suddenly echoed. "You have made it leaning upon each other." The voice the seemed to resonate from the walls was spoken in a horrid accent, rough, with a high pitch. "Upon the plaque is a bit of wisdom from our lord Imhotep. It wouldn't hurt to read it." The voice started to fade.  
  
"And will that bring us back our power?" Moze yelled out, warning the voice he wasn't done with her.  
  
"There is truth in it." Was all the voice said before vanishing completely.  
  
"Could they be anymore vague?" Chroias growled. "I hate it when villains try to be so mysterious. So cliché."  
  
"We'll make everything very clear when we get a hold of them." Moze grinned and made a slashing sound.  
  
The demon's fangs shone in the dark as she grinned. "I guess I'll be reading this one." The demon cleared her throat and took up the stone plaque. "If thou desirest thy conduct to be good, to set thyself free from all that is evil, then beware of greed, which is a malady diseaseful, incurable. Intimacy with it is impossible. It maketh the sweet friend bitter, it alienateth the trusted one from the master, it maketh bad of father and mother, together with the brothers of the mother, and it divorceth a man's wife." Chroias was taken aback for a moment. "Boy that Imhotep was sure a..."  
  
She was cut off as the amulet began to spin faster and tiny spider webs of magic snaked from it.  
  
Chapter 250 (by Chroias)  
  
The manna flow coming from the deceptively small item drove both Mozenrath and Chroias to the floor.The green light illuminated the tomb, filling all the cracks with it's almost solid streams. Eyes still blinded, Mozenrath could only try to feel through the manna with his undersences and try to determine the cause. "Chroias!" he called into the force and felt the smooth texture of her skin graze his. Gripping, he felt her hand close around his own and heard a soft sigh. "Roi?"  
  
"It's me." she whispered back. "Moze...whats happening?" she clutched his hand almost fearfully. "The power inside that thing is my own, it's so familer." Chroias tried to sit up but slumped against Mozenrath's body., too weak to stand.  
  
"Roi? Roi!" Mozenrath shook her, feeling fear as she did not respond. He lifted his head to the sky. "You wanted us here for a reason! Now damn it what was it for?" when No one answered, Mozenrath let his power fly. With no eyes to see, and with the manna flow confusing his undersneses, the shot was harmless." Say something!  
  
"We needed you to see." said a soft, accented voice from above.  
  
"See? You blind me and expect me to see?"  
  
"Some things are better seen, when ones eyes are closed." The other voice, more masculin, but just as sympathy filled as the female one.  
  
"You can not always expect to be a tower sorcerer. Even with the tooth around your neck your might strength will fall and then where will the tower of power fall?" This voice was familiar, whispering to him like an old friend.  
  
"Remember sorcerer. Every tower has a structure, support beams, a good base, and of course, the stuff that holds it together. Every tower needs these to survive." This voice had an air of arrogance about it that nearly matched his own. "With this, a towers remains are there, even when the might structure itself has gone."  
  
The manna flow around the room changed as the voiced seemed to dissparear. Now it was only the light of Chroias's magic, bathing them both in it's brilliance.  
  
Suddenly, Chroias shot up from his arms, raiseing her hands while her eyes seemed closed in pain. Mozenrath groped for her, but still without his eyes, could only use his remaining undersenses to see feel what was happening.  
  
The outstretched hand acted as lightning rods, the green beams connecting with them and jolting through the demoness's skin. Her eyes shot open, glowing a brilliant red as her horns glowed for a moment. For a moment, time seemed to halt on everything save Chroias. Her green hair became the bright, vivide emerald green it had been before. Her horns grew and her body became more solid as her tail whipped about like a striking snake.  
  
The green magic finished flowing into Chroias's body and she slumped to the floor, feeling like an old friend had returned home.  
  
"Chroias." Mozenrath questioned as the world around him became fuzzy. Light began to push through in his eyes and soon shapes began to play through. "Roi.My visions coming back."  
  
Chroias turned to look at him. the spirals of black that had once been his eyes were whirling away.  
  
"Mozenrath." she jumped into his arms and brought her lips to his.  
  
Mozenrath smiled between her kisses. "My visions back..."he said softly. "And I gotta say...you look beautiful." his grin turned mischievous as his hand found a resting place.  
  
Chroias giggled. "Okay. Now that's enough. Lets get outta here and find those basterds who brought us in here!" the reddish glow in her eyes returned and Mozenrath felt a familiar feeling in his chest.  
  
"Oh you won't have to search far for us!" said a familiar, and sarcastic voice.  
  
Both Mozenrath and Chroias stood to meet those who had attacked them. Mozenrath's gauntlet began to glow sadistically. "Okay. Who wants to be first."  
  
Surprisingly, none of them looked the least bit afraid.the one with smoky eyes nodded, and all of the villains whipped off their head dresses.  
  
  
  
Chapter 251 (by Nefret)  
  
The burka fell away to revile Tirs's sweet young face. "The support." She whispered with a little smile. Oh they thought they were so cleaver.  
  
"The base." Zak boasted as he pulled away his headdress. By this time the demon's and sorcerers eyes were wide and unbelieving.  
  
"The tempest." A gruff voice rang out as the black turban and face covering fell off Apepe. "Your always trying to keep me out." He grinned.  
  
The woman in the red elbowed him before slipping off her face vile and slipping off her black headdress. Purple curls came into view. "The structure." Nef voiced proudly. Damn proud. Their plan had worked perfectly. Now they just had to face what it brought down on their pretty little heads.  
  
Mozenrath's lips moved soundlessly for a moment as he searched for something to say. "You all along.. Did this?!"  
  
"Are we in trouble daddy?" Tris put on the puppy dog eyes and her lips quivered.  
  
Moze turned to her and wagged a finger. "No no, don't you dare.." Moze looked to Chroias then back to the group. With quick steps he grasped the amulet and wagged it accusingly at the group. "And this? Do you know what you did? Do you have any idea?? You left Chroias helpless as a kitten! What if something had happened! What than?!" His voice was growing steadily more intense and even Zak had to wince as it rung in his ears. "Who's smart idea was this?" the sorcerer held thrust the amulet at them so hard it nearly flew out of his hand.  
  
"It was my doing." Nefret confessed.  
  
Moze whirled to her and grabbed her by the shoulder. "You? You could have killed her! What if someone had taken advantage of her powerless state?" Moze was on the verge of breaking her bones. Chroias sprang into action to save her friend but Nefret waved her off.  
  
"Never, my lord, was she powerless. Never was she without her demon powers." Nefret hissed out.  
  
"Liar! Than how do you explain that she was pail, cold as ice, and limp as a rag doll?" Moze was inches from his minions face. "You took her power."  
  
"Yes, indeed I did. But not her demon born powers." Nef smiled faintly.  
  
"You're speaking in circles. She possesses no other powers, what's in you head girl?" Moze backed her into the wall. Again Roias, and even the twins looked to want to help. But again Nefret waved them off.  
  
"The power you gave her." Was the simple reply from the Egyptians lips. Moze looked utterly confused. "Over the years you've contributed much to the fabric of her being. You gave her strength of body and of mind. Emotional support, knowledge, awareness, self-confidence, meaning and built her person. That my lord, that power is what I took. I left her without all you gave her. You need each other. You've always known that, you just needed to acknowledge it."  
  
Mozenrath's face turned blank and his shoulders slumped. The sheer realization of what had happened just hit him. Were he and Chroias really that entangled that without each other they'd be so weak? Had it really taken his own children and his slave girl to bring him, the greatest sorcerer in the seven deserts, to enlightenment? His grip lessened. "From the mouth of babes..." He whispered and turned to Chroias.  
  
She two seemed distressed. She had always counted herself as a strong completely self-dependent demoness. Now it seemed her strength was thanks, in part, to another. A person she needed desperately.  
  
"Comes the truth." Chroias finished Mozenrath half voiced thought. They smiled at each other but a sharp sound broke the spell.  
  
Apepe cleared his throat in discomfort. "Well old girl. Maybe we should be heading home and letting the love birds.er.." He put his arm around Trist but Zak took them away before Moze could land into him.  
  
"Why that little.." Moze grumbled.  
  
Chroias laughed and pulled Mozenrath into her grip. Just out in the desert echoed an old love song sung as loud and obnoxiously as it could be.  
  
Chapter 252 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret walked down the stairs, graceful as ever and holding some equipment for Mozenrath in her arms. Apparently whatever he was doing now needed the liver of a goose, the spleen of a horse and the intestines of a half dead skeleton. Nefret, practiced by now in the art of assisting Mozenrath with magic, managed not to hurl as she deposited the ingredients at the table beside the lab. she knocked on the door and listened to see if she could discern what he was doing.  
  
Suddenly, the door was flung open and a cloud of foul smelling gas flung itself outside the entryway. Nefret covered up her mouth with her jacket,(the one she'd gotten in the future),and covered her mouth and nose just in case it was poisonous. The gas blew past her as she flung her hand out in front of her to ward it off. A sudden thought sprang to mind. If that stuff was deadly then Mozenrath...!  
  
No such luck. A few moments later a very nauseated looking sorcerer emerged and immediately began inhaling clean air. Mozenrath didn't look too well. His face was twice as pasty as normal and his hair had curled itself tightly around his head in little corkscrew curls. His eyes had bags under them and his clothing had apparently been bleached by the substance. "Oh great Allah!" he gasped into the halls. "Oh it was NOT supposed to do that!"  
  
"I gathered." Nefret helped him to stand and pulled him away from the smoke. "Where's Chroias? I thought her powers helped you from destroying yourself and blowing up things when a spell went wrong."  
  
"It does. But she decided to sleep in late today." Mozenrath, despite his color, suddenly seemed to blush. "We were um...up late..."  
  
"Save it nature boy. I guessed the two of you would have some catching up to do." Nefret smiled in her quirky way. "So everything's all settled in the romance department."  
  
Mozenrath nodded in affirmation. "Yes. I am, admittedly, glad to have Chroias back in my 'good graces' again."  
  
That was a little more then he'd intended on saying, but what the Hades, he was in a good mood despite the small lab disaster. He smiled slightly and turned to look at Nefret. "Anyways, did you get the ingredients I as..." his eyes transferred from her face to her hair. "Oh my." he said, more then half amused. "I didn't know it could have that effect."  
  
"What...what effect?" Nefret looked at his clothing. "It didn't bleach my hair white did it!" she said in a panic.  
  
"Oh no! Nothing like that." The smile on Mozenrath's face could have been taken straight off a cobra. "Your fine I promise."  
  
Nefret grabbed the front of his shirt. "What happened? What did that cockamamie spell of yours do?" ded for it to do. Nef i just didn't know it would..."Mozenrath, no longer able to hold it in, busted out laughing. Nefret truly began to panic now. "What! Come on tell me what did it do" she raised her fist threatingly.  
  
Mozenrath, unable to speak, simply conjured a mirror and handed it to the panicking Egyptian.  
  
Nefret dropped her masters collar and looked into the mirror.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
The scream was what woke Chroias from her sleep. "Nef!" for fear that something had hurt her, Chroias threw on the robe she kept beside her bed and rushed out the corridors.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
The scene she met would have been funny, if it were not for the fact that Nefret looked as though she might just kill Mozenrath if she got a hold of him. The Egyptian priestess had a rather large book in her hands, a rat tailed towel in the other, and a head full of bright orange hair. Every time she got close enough, Nefret would snap the towel forward, catching her masters rear.  
  
Chapter 253 (by Nefret) *updated*  
  
Moze was in a struggle between regaining his position of power and dodging the smart smacks from Nefret. "No will you." Moze managed to growl out before another slap hit him. "Just stop!" He yelled as the towel caught him again. He was able to capture it on it's retract. "I'm your master if there's any whipping to be done I'll be the one administering it!!!" He firmly planted his foot down making sure to put his minion back in her place, under his thumb.  
  
Nefret looked to the ground and whimpered a bit. Such a pitiful sound. Moze even though he was about to go into a laughing fit felt a slight twinge as that pitiful sound ripped into his heart.  
  
"Oh look Nef, it isn't that bad Certainly no more strange than your normal purple.." He approached her and caught a curl, pulling it and letting it bounce back.  
  
That's just what Nef wanted, when Mozenrath got close enough and his guard was completely let down her hand shot up and connected solidly upside his cranium. Moze lunged forward in surprise and Nef decided another whack was in order. In fact once her hand got going it had a mind of it's own.  
  
Moze took about 5 hits before managing to thrust his head in the air far above that of the shorter girl. His wrath for such an insubordination would have normally been quick and harsh, but when he looked down and saw Nefret's face and orange head he couldn't help but chuckle, she made such an interesting face when she wanted to rip your throat out.  
  
Nef bit her lip and turned to Chroias with a helpless look. "Kill him Roais, kill him now! For me!" She half begged half demanded. The demons lips curled a bit though you could tell she was fighting it all the way. The Egyptian seemed taken aback.  
  
"You said you wanted a new look." The demon's lips tried to pull straight but lost the fight. "It's new alright."  
  
Nef threw up her hands and turned on her heels. "I get you to back together and this is what I get?" Nef marched out of room but not before throwing a goose liver at him.  
  
Roias carfuly oppend Nef's door, afraid of what she'd find. The hinges creeked painfully and Chroias winced at the sound. A growl sounded from inside, it was apparent being ginger wasn't going to make matters better or worse so the demon flung open the door and strolled in like nothing was wrong. "Hey girl how are you."  
  
Nefret looked up from her own relfection in the mirror to the reflection of the demon. She expected to find laughing eyes and a mocking smile and that's exactly what was there. "I suppose you find this funny?"  
  
"I do." The demon giggeld out and was able to catch the vase that was thrown at her. "Hey now, don't get bent out of shape!! It can be fixed.. Somehow.."  
  
Nefret nodded slightly and went back to work. "how the hell do you tie one of these bloody things?" The now ornange haired girl let her ands wain from around her head hopping the stirp of cloth she'd tried to make into a turnban would hold. It didn't.  
  
"Here I'll do it." Chroias smoothed the hair back and started to wrap.  
  
The Lab had been partially cleaned by the mumluks. Partially because the sorcerer didn't trust the half minded shambling around some his most prize possessions held on the shelves. Nefret would have to clean it up when she came out of her mood. A female 'ahem' rang out.  
  
"Please let that be you Chroias. My head can't take any more bashing today." The sorcerer groaned and rubbed his temples.  
  
"Want me to kiss it all better?" came the answer. That right there told Mozenrath who was in the room. Chroias slipped her pale arms around him. "mozy dear what was in that spell."  
  
"Oh the normal.." Moze was cut off as Chroias released him suddenly and hopped up to sit on the desk.  
  
"you realize of course you'll have to find the reversce spell and hope you don't screw it up just as much as you screwed up the original." She demon tipped her head and smiled one sidedly  
  
"I did not screw it up!" Moze fumed. "It was just a bit of experimental improv." He explained with a wave of his hand. "And must we change Nef's hair back. it makes me laugh. Ya know Nef makes a much better jester than a minion."  
  
It as Chroias's turn to slap him upside the head. "well she'll become a pretty good murderer if you leave her that way.." Chroias looked away and crossed her arms in a way that told Mozenrath his fate if he didn't do what she wanted. The cold shoulder and a cold bed.  
  
He looked down at his books. And gave a grumbling answer. "okay.."  
  
Chroias's fangs glinted as she smiled and threw her arms around his shoulders. "Oh and try not to tease her at dinner tonight." Chroias whimpered. Mozenrath's eyes bugged and he bit his lip. She was asking the impossible!  
  
Chapter 254 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret washed her hair at least twelve times that night, but all she'd managed to do was give the stuff a glossy sheen and give her skin a red tinge.Beside,her head was starting to hurt. Sighing, she leaned back on the bed and looked at the mirror. her hair looked like a sun disk or something. twisting on curl around her finger, nefret contemplated following Chroias example and shaving her head.  
  
"Hey Auntie. Can I come in?"  
  
Nefret turned around and scowled at Zak. "Fine great, just another person to tease and make fun!" she threw the turban at his head. "Go away."  
  
"Awww come on auntie. It doesn't look that bad.Domdi says you kinda look like a sun goddess." Zak had hoped to brighten her spirits and it worked. Nefret smiled at the corners of her mouth and nodded. "I knew something was up when dad seemed in too good of a mood today. Especially since Tris and Apepe haven't come out of their room all night."  
  
Nef smiled and hugged a pillow. "So I take it he's okay with their dangerous liaison?"  
  
"No. But he has found out that their isn't much he can do about it." Zak grinned at his fathers inability to refuse his daughter anything. "I just hope she's using that contraceptive spell she found in the library."  
  
"They have those?" Nefret asked and raised an eye brow.  
  
"Oh yeha. Dads got a spell for just about everything. Conterceptives, virtility..." Zak ducked the pillow.  
  
"Stop. Don't need any more info thank you." Nefret sipped at her wine and tasseled her hair. "Sun goddess huh?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
Nefret heard Zak walk out of the room when the idea clicked. If Mozenrath had spells like that stocked up in the library, he might have something that could at least lessen the humiliation of this. Jumping up and rushing past Anubis, Nefret headed for the book room.  
  
Anubis looked at his mistress. he knew, from a dogs point of view, about the hair fiasco. he'd wished he could do something to help, but from a dogs point of view hair color wasn't that big a deal. He'd love Nefret anyways.  
  
Chapter 255 (by Nefret)  
  
"Oh look I can make a mans finger turn into a nematode with just bats eye and dandelion fluff." Nefret mumbled as she looked flipped thought the book. The Egyptian girl looked at her hound with a raised eyebrow. "humm.. maybe later."  
  
Anubis rolled his eyes and plunked down with a huff. Despite her years serving by Mozenrath's side (if you could call what she did a service) she was no magician and this little minion dabbling in her masters arts could prove fatal.  
  
"Or we could give Mozenrath a major case of oozing acne. Oh maybe we could rot out his teeth and." Nef was getting a malignant glean in her eye close to the one Moze got at the thought of taking over Agraba.  
  
Anubis whined and nipped at her heels. This had the desired affect as Nefret flinched and came down off her high.  
  
"All right, all right! I know what I'm here for." Nefret flipped to the back of the book. "Besides he really didn't mean to do it. But he deserves something that will at least make him sorry for taunting me!" Nefret finally found the chapter ton hair and started skimming muttering all the way about various punishments she'd like to administer. Finally a page came into view marked simply "hair." A few pages more reviled an illustration of a pearl enameled comb with a short passage underneath. "Comb of Truth in Nature: forces natural dominance over all things deviant."  
  
Anubis, in the strange dog way he had, gave a look that said "sounds like just the thing we need."  
  
Nefret's eyebrows arched as she caught the meaning of the look the dog gave her. "Ya know dog, sometimes I think you're more than you seem."  
  
The teeth of Nefret's ivory comb scraped gently over the table as she picked it up gingerly. It had been a gift from the priests of the Dendea temple at her 10th birthday. It must be said Nefret's father's death left he near penniless and everything she owned was in one way or another a gift. But she treasured a few over all: a few items of jewelry (most of all the onyx ring) her best dresses, a few luxury items she had received from Chroias, and this comb. "I don't have much of an idea what I'm doing with this spell." She muttered as she fingered the scrap of paper she'd written the ingredients on. "Moze wouldn't mind would he.." Nef wondered as a nasty grin came over her.  
  
Nefret carefully creaked open the door of her master. Thankfully the chamber was empty of human and demon life. Her nose wrinkled as she stepped lithely over several.. Items.. left scattered on the floor from the night. On the table near the window sat innocently what she sought. A simple carved comb of fragrant wood belonging none other the Mozenrath.  
  
Nefret picked out a few stray ebony hairs and held the comb in front of her face. "I just hope he doesn't have lice."  
  
A gang of 6 sat at the table, Mozenrath, Chroias, Zak, Tirs, Domdi, and amazingly enough Apepe sat hunched over the very end of the table. The absence of a certain Egyptian minion had gone by without a second thought. She was after all expected to brood over her new look for quite a while. Dinner was going well since the man of the table was in an all to good mood. The gleaming grin on the sorcerers face dropped as a bang rang out. Now since everyone but one was present and accounted for the culprit of the noise was easily discerned. "Nefret!" Moze roared out.  
  
For the second time in just a short 48 hours the lab lay in ruins, this time more completely than before. The gang hadn't seen it yet but just coming down the hall the level of destruction was evident by the smoldering door lying on the ground. Smoke poured though the blasted gap. Something else poured from inside, deliriously happy bows of laughter and the unmistakable sound of a jig being preformed from inside.  
  
Mozenrath's lips tightened into a scowl. "She had better discovered how to make lead into gold for this!"  
  
Chapter 256 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret mixed up the thick substance in it's jar as it began to froth and smoke. She didn't dare smell it for fear that she might faint and Anubis was beside her on the floor, whining curiously at her. Mepho trod over beside her, curiously poking around at ingredients. He seemed to have a knack for clawing at her hand when she was just about to make a mistake. The cat was a pain, but anyone who could assault Mirage was okay in her book.  
  
A blackish mushroom cloud went up from the concoction and turned a deep, purple color. "Hummm." Nefret said, unsatisfied. "A bit lighter." she rummaged thought the ingredients until she came upon the powdered doves feathers. she sprinkled a bit into the concoction until the second cloud plumed, reveling a rich, plum shade of purple. "Perfect. Hey I'm getting good at this." she grinned at Anubis who rolled his eyes. "Fine, hey nobody asked you."  
  
Nefret turned the concoction over and let a glop of it fall into her hair with a sickening smack. It felt like drool, but if it worked she'd take anything. Picking up the gadget she'd found to help her with this, nefret began to chant the words in a slilted voice, as one who didn't know the language well. "Kc'iuq pu em pleh dan e'moc esaelp. Kc'erw a si ri'ah ym ytuaeb fo sydal ho!"  
  
Her head began to tingle pleasantly as she shivered with the sensation.It felt like a million tiny fingers were massaging the gel into her head. Humming happily, she sat in a chair to wait.  
  
And the door busted wide open, Mozenrath and Chroias standing on the outside.  
  
"Moze!" Nefret said and tried to grin.  
  
But it was apparent that her master was in no mood for joking. He looked from the bubbling concoction on Nefret's head, to the ruined test tubes and cylinders on the table, to the mess she'd made of the area, and then to the gloop she'd managed to get on the book. He looked at his minion with those stunning black eyes. One motion with his finger telling her to come to him was all Nefret needed to know she was in deep.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
The ugly color was gone from her head, and that was about the only thing Nefret had to be cheerful about. Mozenrath was drilling the punishment down on her hard. she'd already managed to clean up the work area of all that foul smelling stuff. But Mozenrath hadn't been satisfied. She'd had to re- alphabetize the library, replace the ingredients she'd used, cook dinner, polish Mozenrath black wood throne, and then confined to quarters for the next two days. She twirled a lock of hair in the miror. At least her hair had come out of this alright. It's wonderful purple sheen was back and that gloopy stuff had given it wonderful body and a glossy shine.  
  
She was putting the last coat of wood polish on the throne when Chroias walked by. The children had left soon after dinner, sensing that a nasty conversation was in the air and had telepathically said goodbye to their favorite aunt. "Little brats only wanted to avoid my guilt trip looks." Nefret mused in her mind as Chroias picked up a rag and began to help her polish the chair.  
  
"Well was it worth it?" the demoness asked and arched an eyebrow as Nefret flipped her hair.  
  
"Oh most defiantly." she grinned." I have my beautiful hair back, the kids are gone, and it seems like the Citadel is settling back down for a while." she sighed as she polished the seat. "I hope he sits down and gets polish all over his robes." she muttered and Roi laughed.  
  
"Well you did get that stuff out of the lab without permission. I don't even do that." Roi said and helped with the armrest.  
  
"Like you need to!" Nefret convicted. "Anywho, I was going to clean it up when i was done. He didn't have to get so jumpy." she flexed her hands. "My fingers are near worn to the...stubs." she avoided using the word bones for the moment in case Mozenrath happened by. No use pushing things.  
  
"I know. I went along behind you too make sure nothing got accidental. Some of that stuff you were using is deadly when mixed improperly.'" she gazed at her friend with the same kind of love she'd have shone a sister. "You know thats part of the reason he was so mad. He was afraid you might have mixed something incorrectly and he'd have found charbroiled minion."  
  
"I figured just by that look. I don't like being treated like an incompetent around you all." Nefret patted Anubis on the head and Chroias scoped up Mepho.  
  
"Nef you're not incompetent, far from it. You just aren't..."she searched for a kind word. "fluent in what we do. Moze has taught you a bit and given you a ring to protect yourself." roi mentioned and looked at the little used trinket.  
  
"But it's not enough. I DO NOT want to be a sorceress, but I'd like to know something!" she growled.  
  
"Well work on that later. Moze say's he's got one more job for you to do before you are sentenced to your room." roi teased her friend. "I'll come and help if ya want."  
  
"Thanks." Nefret said, meaning it. "Nice to have a friend like you around." 


	12. Patron12

Patron 12  
  
Previously: (on general hospital) Crazy crazy adventures have happed! But after a little exertion into the romance drama of last part Mozenrath (our favorite evil sorcerer), Chroias (his demon girl friend with heart of gold.. kinda), and Nefret (Mozenrath's obstinate minion) are back in the saddle of magic and sorcery!! Always after new and more powerful magic Mozenrath is on a treasure hunt again. Yet this one could give him everything he wants and take everybody he loves. Hold on!!!  
  
Chapter 257 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret sighed as she plopped down on her bed. Above her the ceiling stretched out like a night canvas. It was now 5 hours into her sentence and counting. Her room was the cell and her warden was an unusually even more repulsive mumluk standing on the other side the door. Nef rolled over with a huff. God Mozenrath was even mad enough to spare a guard to keep her in check. She didn't see the big deal, he'd made a mistake and she'd taken the time to fix it herself! So she destroyed half of the lab and could have killed herself, so what? At least she had a cellmate.  
  
Anubis looked up at her licked his nose. "Don't start." Nefret groaned and took to fiddling with the fringe of a pillow. "I'm already on the point of deadly boredom! God 2 days. I'll go stir crazy before than." Nefret looked around for something to do. A sistrum sat placentaly on her dresser. With a smile she picked it up and into an impromptu dance. It seemed the signs of cabin sickness was already setting as she tripped over her bed and landed in a laughing fit. A sudden knock at the door made her go silent. If Mozenrath had found another chore for her she'd do more than slam the door in his face.  
  
Carefully, as if afraid of what lay behind it, Nefret opened the door. Besides the mumluk sat a stack of books on the ground. Nefret's mouth pulled into a smile as she reached out to gather them. She let out a sharp gasp as the sword of the mumluk quickly fell just inches away from her finger. Apparently none of her was to leave the confides of her room. "Little to literal there corpus." Nefret growled and retreated back fully into her door.  
  
Anbuis, given free reign trotted out and nudged the books into Nefret's allowed reach. The girl paced her room as she looked over the books. They were of the magical sort, but not the methodical, step by step, Arabic books Moze drooled over. These were adventure stories full of magicians, sorcerers, mystic beasts, and spells galore. And all written in the form of writing she was most comfortable with, hieratic.  
  
A sudden clank of bridles and the plod of horse's feet brought the girls attention away from the stories. Padding to her window Nefret laid witness to a dark caravan coming over the dunes. It seemed eerie and she would have sworn she could have seen right through them to the dark sands behind. But Nefret attributed it the mirage effect of high winds and desert heat. Whatever they were they were headed for the Citadel with heavy feet.  
  
Mozenrath sat on his throne admiring his face in the new sheen of the polished armrest. He pulled his lip back to Wisk away a speak from his white canine and grinned into his reflection. "Not all that bad."  
  
Chroias who had just entered the room was unsure if he was talking about the shine job on the throne or his own reflection. "No not bad at all." She gave a suggestive smile, which was of course returned. Their little moment was brought to a halt was a dull knock rang out.  
  
"Nefret!!!" Mozenrath yelled out of sheer instinct. "Door!!"  
  
"Sorry dear. You've got her locked up tighter than Fort Knox." Chroias reminded.  
  
"Oh yeah." Came the sorcerers grumbling answer. "I'll get it than." He pushed himself from the chair and stomped to the door. "What?!" He yelled as he pulled open the heavy door. His face fell as he was faced with the eternal silence of the black desert. Pulling his head out the door her scanned from left to right. "Nothing there." he whispered and scratched his head. "Was the wind. Nothing more."  
  
Chapter 258 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath was not a trusting man by nature. Chroias and his children were exceptions to the rule. Even Nefret had his confidence though he wouldn't dare make mention of it. So after that odd knocking a few nights ago he'd made use of about ten captives in the dungeons bellow and added extra guards to the watch. Not a single building was without some surveillance.  
  
A soft purring behind his averted his attentions while his undersenses told him it was only Mepho being carried in by Chroias. He took his sights off the dead city bellow and turned to look at his lover. 'Damn but she does have a habit of looking ravishing.' Mozenrath couldn't help but think. Chroias was wearing a simple bikini of dark emerald green along with a gossamer poncho made from illuminating indigo that shimmered when the candle light changed. Even with her hair now cropped and short the silver head band she wore looked beautiful on her..  
  
"How now my love?" she said and slid her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek and fluttering her eyelashes across his skin.  
  
Mozenrath twitched at it's tickle and jerked away. He clutched her arm and twirled her around in front of him, grabbing her around the waist and holding her tight. "Don't do that now." he trailed a finger up her spine and sides. "I have to supervise." he patted Mepho as the cat clawed at his turban.  
  
"Supervise what? They're dead guys! What are they gonna do, mold on you?" She spun out of his reach and flashed her leg daringly. "I'm bored." she said in childish tones and grabbed his hands. "Come on."  
  
"Come on what?" He grinned, knowing what she wanted full well. He was as ready as she was, but he also wanted to get back at her just a bit for shying from his bed. "I"m a very busy sorcerer I'll have you know! I can't just go running around and fornicating every time your animalistic side heats up."  
  
What he said was true enough. Chroias, as a demon, had specific animal characteristics. Seeing in the dark, hunting, stealth, claws, fangs, and of course the 'urges' that came every now and then. Oh she could go through the motions of fornication as often as she wished, but there was that specific time of year in which she was especially, well the most polite terminologies would be healthy. In fact the last time she'd been so 'healthy' had been just a short while before she'd become pregnant with Tris and Zak.  
  
Not that that was too much of a problem. He had certain spells that could remove that danger. But they tended to be less effective on demon's then human ladies. He should know, he'd had the privilege of testing it. But that wasn't the point. Chroias was obviously in the mood. But he had to get something's done first. Bedside's, if he forced her to hold off that would make delayed gratification worth while.  
  
"Not now. I have things to do first." Mozenrath took great pleasure in seeing her frown and hearing her sigh of frustration. The times when she was in this cycle was also when she was most obedient. Perhaps that wasn't the best word for it. More willing to put up with him was more accurate. "Get me that book of Staff Enchantments. I've had my eye on something for a while and need to look it up. If were lucky, we'll be going on a little vacation soon."  
  
Chroias scoffed but went for the book. "More likely on another one of your magic hunting trips. Mozei!" she made large eyes at him which she was very capable of doing when she wanted to. Her lips pouched out slightly and she leaned on his shoulder. "Moze..."her voice deepened suggestively and she posed for him, showing some of the more exciting parts of her anatomy as she did so.  
  
Mozenrath had to garb the book from her and put it between them. She was FAR to tempting when she did that. He had promised himself to finish this before the next day, and her being persuasive wasn't helping. "daddy's busy." he said firmly and pointed to a chair. "Now sit and be patient."  
  
Roias growled and plopped down. Mozenrath smiled, he loved her like this.  
  
Chapter 259 (by Nefret)  
  
Mozenrath's lips pulled to the side as he squinted over the book. Something wasn't quite right about it. The information on the staff he was after. lacked somehow. The most necessary basics was there, uses, powers, appearance, origins.. But... it just wasn't right. No owners were listed. In all the other pages a sub column appeared, "in the houses of:" But this one was different.  
  
'People must have owned it.' Moze muttered in his head. 'But no one wasn't to claim they did.' His fingers lifted slightly and scrapped up the page to the staff's name. "Orichalcon" The word made the hair on his neck stand at attention. He shivered shut the book.  
  
Chroias raised an eyebrow as her lover looked onto the book cover with glazed eyes and smoothed back the troubled hair on his neck. A smile cracked over her lips. "Such a pretty name." The demon commented. Mozenrath's eyes snapped up to her. Chroias crossed her legs, giving him the treat of a flash of a milky thigh.  
  
The sorcerer grinned, almost embarrassed of his momentary loss of face. "Not as pretty as some things." His teeth glinted in the darkening room as his lips pulled over his sharp canines in a feral grin. A mirror of the animalistic smile flashed back from Chroias.  
  
Nefret clutched her hands together and threw her head out the window. With a growl she snapped it back in and began her nervous pace again. The moon still wasn't at its highest point. Midnight was still not upon her. Around and around the room she went. Two days in one room can build up your energy. Nefret felt like she could run for miles but only had a few feet before her until a stonewall meet her.  
  
"Cant he be kind and let me out just a few minuets early?" Nef wondered as she forced herself to sit. "Of course not, this is Mozenrath we're talking about." She answered herself. Her eyes shifted to the widow. The moon was rising. Standing up and pulling the crimson sheet over her shoulder the young Egyptian padded to the open window and with a sigh closed the gate-like shutters. They were of splendid design, a deep mahogany arc carved out in flowers and scrolls, splintering the view of the night sky, and shafting he moonlight pouring onto her face so that her cheeks were painted in floral patters of light and dark.  
  
Out there, riding the wind, flew a sparrow. Such a sight was it as it climbed into the night sky with the moon now at midnight that Nefret pulled herself closer to the closed shutters to watch. She watched for many minutes despite the fact that her detention had come to an end. Such beauty was not often seen in the skies of the black desert. The bird, giving it none to much credit, seemed to know it was being watched. Sparrow leveled off in it's circling climb and rode the invisible wind straight to Nefret's window. The lined eyes of the Egyptian widened and her pupils retracted, yet she did not make a move, somehow she thought the bird would pull up just in time. No luck, a sickening crack rang out as the fragile body of the bird smashed against the unyielding wood off the shutters. In a nanosecond of time Nefret found herself staring into the pitiless eyes of the sparrow before it's head rolled back and it fell from the shutters to plummeted to the desert sands several floors below.  
  
Nef drew in a sharp gasp, the spell broken, and took several falling steps backwards. Tying to regain her learned facade of cool composure her mind began the automatic search or an explanation. Birds weren't smart, they didn't know the difference between an open window and one shuttered by a perforated screen... he saw the light from inside and thought the window was open that was all. yes that was all.  
  
"That's all." Nefret began to chuckle "Stupid bird." She spat as she ran a hand through her hair. Yet she couldn't help the memory of the old wives tale about suicidal birds. "A bird dying upon your window bring news of the coming death of the house. He rides before death and hail it's coming." Nefret felt her skin go cold and she turned to the door. It was midnight and time for her release.  
  
Banging loudly on the door Nefret voiced her displeasure. "Mozenrath, you let me out now!!!! My time is up!!!! I know perfectly well what your doing and I don't give a flying fig! Mozenrath open this door now!! Mozenrath don't make me break it down! I'll tie the bed sheets together and climb out the window if I have to! Are you listening to me?! Mozenrath.." Her voice rang though out the night, carried on high by the winds into the midnight air around the black desert to whatever omens might be listening.  
  
Chapter 260 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret paced back and forth directly behind the door of her room. The dead bird had long since landed on the desolate grounds of the black sand and been trodden upon by mamlucks careless feet. She could almost feel the feathers crunch on her arms like they were wings and shuddered breathlessly. she couldn't stand being cooped up in this room one more second, she felt claustraphobic! Rushing over to the door, she grabbed it with both hands and flung it open!  
  
She had expected an aunterage of mamlucks to stop her, but felt a bit anti- climatic when she found none. Carefully, she placed a foot outside the door. When it wasn't severed, she felt safe enough to exit. Once she'd walked for a few minuets, her breath returned and she walked down to the throne room. The well-polished throne gleamed up at her as she grimaced. 'I swear as soon as his back is turned I'm gonna smear hydrogen peroxide all over that thing!' she promised and walked the corridors.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Chroias was getting impatient. Very impatient. Mozenrath had discovered long ago the signs that meant he was keeping her waiting too long. Her eyes were closed, almost like she was in pain. Her chest was rising and falling in a slow, methodical beat like a drum. her tail twitched from side to side like a cats and the rumbling purrr of a thunderstorm curled around the room. Even her ears twitched slightly as she listened for any cues that he was ready to put down his work and get down to serious business.  
  
Mozenrath smiled, he so rarely had the ability to keep Roi under his order. He didn't want her to be submissive all the time. That would have destroyed half the reason that he loved her. All the more reason to treasure when he had her willing participation. He slowly lifted the book and again read thought the page on the scepter. Apparently the only location was somewhere in Africa Directly in the heart of the country. Now that was reason to worry. The jungles there were unpredictable and filled with natives who didn't well appreciate people in their often holy grounds. People had a tendency of becoming offerings to pagan gods when entering. Something he wasn't keen on becoming.  
  
Roi let out a sharp growl behind him and Mozenrath slapped the book shut. that was the sign that he'd kept her waiting too long.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Nefret walked by the Master bedroom and heard the small noises of the goings on inside. She hurried past with a determination of someone who'd become a bit lonely. Now that the romance had gotten back into a few peoples lives she had begun to long for hers. She thought of Don back in the future and her stomach seized up. She missed him dearly. But for the moment there was nothing she could do about it. She'd made a deal. And she was getting a good end of it. Twnety years of service in return for having a place with immortality. But that didn't stop the tight feeling in her gut or the painful stab in her heart. Twenty years was a long time.  
  
'Yeah a long time to be abstinent. 'Her mind chortled at her sarcastically. Nefret smirked. It was going to be a while before she could feel 'that' kind of touch again.  
  
Chapter 261 (by Nefret)  
  
Mozenrath walked tall and proud as he entered the dinning room with Chroias hanging regally off his arm. Dusky morning light full of dust and the air of the black desert gleamed off the high black polish of the long table. It was on days like this, after a night with his queen, his throne polished to the max with his servant pushed back firmly under his thumb that he felt truly like a king. "Good morning Nef." He greeted with unusually fervor and sincerity.  
  
"umphf." Was what he got in return. Moze looked to his minion in surprise. She looked like the walking dead, and believe me he knew what that looked like. Her color was dusky and lacking of that bronze glow she usually carried, her eyes were dark and, in an unprecedented move, completely clean of makeup.  
  
"Glad to see you made an effort." Moze grumbled and sat heavily down in his chair.  
  
Nefret's head rolled up with all the menace of an irritated lion disturbed from its nap. "Pray forgive me. But I didn't get much sleep last night."  
  
Chroias immediately stuck a gleaming smile "Neither did we!" The look in her eyes was positively animalist and it forced Nef to look away and place her head in her hands.  
  
Moze elbowed Chroias. He never liked to share too much info with the help in that area of his life. Moze contemplated Nefret as breakfast was set before them. "Did something happen last night? I could have sworn for a moment I heard you yelling for me. I was occupied at that moment..."  
  
Nefret raised a hand, she didn't want any more info. She thought back and with a sudden blush felt rather foolish at her anxiety over a little harmless bird. She wasn't the kind to get so jump of such little things, she couldn't imagine what could have made her react so. Must have just been the effect of being grounded to one small room for so long. She smiled in honest amusement of herself and laughed. This worried Mozenrath all the more. "No nothing happened. I just got tired of staying in my room so I let myself out. That's all." She laughed again and picked up her fork.  
  
  
  
Chroias snaked her hands over Mozenrath's shoulder as he planned out his route into the unforgiving forests of deep Africa. The sorcerer smiled but kept on with is work. "Lover." Chroias breathed into his ear. Moze shrugged his shoulder forcing her away.  
  
"Not so fast. You promised you'd let me get some work done today!" He reminded her.  
  
Chroias's face went helpless. "But I was under direst when I said that!" she protested weakly. A look from Moze made her pout and give up. "Well at least this trip will be a nice romantic getaway. Hot seamy jungles, waterfalls, orchids." She looked off dreamily.  
  
Moze picked up where she left off. "Mosquitoes, hungry forest animal, natives." He reminded her. "And of course a certain minion in tow." He smirked and looked back to his map.  
  
Chroias came off her romantic high abruptly. "You mean you actually want to take her without me asking?" Chroias flopped down in a chair. "That's never happened before." She grumbled. Now the demon loved Nef like a sister and wanted nothing more than to have that girl at their sides for all eternity it was just. well. she had hoped for this to be a romantic little camping trip with just her and her Mozy. Not a magic hunt with Nefret set up in the next tent over.  
  
Moze knew exactly what she was thinking, and on many levels agreed with her. "Dear you may have noticed we are incurably pasty. If the natives find us we will be labeled as outsiders in a land we don't have any business being in. Nefret's darker completion my gain us a bit of leeway. Besides when Nef was in Egypt she mingled with a few slaves taken out of the heart of Africa. She knows a few Swahili words." Moze grimaced. "Well at least she can cry for mercy in Swahili. Maybe tell them we taste bitter." He jabbed.  
  
Chroias smiled slightly. "Speak for yourself!! I'm sweet as candy." She leaned over his desk and grinned.  
  
Moze threw up the map as a screen between them and hiding her from his view. "Go get packed and tell Nef to get her things together!" He ordered.  
  
Chapter 262 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret shoved things into a carrying case as quickly as possible. When Moze said they were leavening now, he meant it. Thankfully, Chroias's magic made things a bit easier. she wouldn't have to be stuck lugging her master's stuff around for one thing. Roias had a nifty little spell which warped space into thinking of itself as being large then in reality. The demon had attempted an explanation once, but like how Santa Clause got all those toys in to one bag, it was a mystery. The bags could carry themselves by being supported in mid-air and never leavening the side of it's owners. Nefret sighed, that demon had a way of making her whole life easier.  
  
A female giggle erupted from down the hall. Followed by unintelligible words from a deeper voice.  
  
'Okay not always easy.' Nefret grimaced grumpily. 'Gods what kind of spell is on her lately? Did Moze slip something into her drink?' She wouldn't put it past him to do that, she really wouldn't. He was such a damn annoyance sometimes. Anubis whimpered at the entrance to her door along with Mepho. The dog was polite enough to wait for Nefret to open it for him, but Mepho came strolling on in and flopped right down on the cloths she was packing.  
  
"Oh you naughty thing!" Nefret cried and spanked the kitten on it's behind. Mepho let out a meow and tugged playfully at the ends her bedspread. 'All these things going on around her.' the kitten mused in his mind. 'No wonder she feels so left alone!' he stopped toying with her and curled his tail about her wrist while Anubis placed his head on her lap.  
  
Nefret laughed loudly. "No matter how bad I feel the two of you always seem to be there." Another giggle followed by a sound that Nefret was sure she didn't want to figure out. "Oh for the love of...unlike some people I know.!" Nefret charged over to the wall and banged on it loudly. "For SOMEONE who wants to get going early tomorrow you sure ain't getting much sleep!!"  
  
A few seconds later the noises died down and Nefret grinned, it was so much fun to do that!  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mozenrath curled and arm around Chroias's body and felt down her neckline. She laughed in that pleased way she had, the warm sultry laugh that made his skin get goose pimples. Her glowing eyes were soft in the dark as his lips touched hers again. He would have loved to go again, but they DID need to get some sleep for tomorrow. with regret all the way down to his toes, Mozenrath turned over on his side.  
  
Chroias growled playfully. "Nono honey. Not tonight your not." Her arms slid around his waist and pulled him back around.  
  
Mozenrath ginger grin was visible even in the dark. "Oh? Not tonight huh?" he grabbed the sheets and flung them over she head. As Chroias yelped, he tugged the covers from under her and laughed as the flop of her body hit the floor on the other side. Before she could get up, he scrambled over to the side of the bed and tackled the covers. "Now. What to do with this old sack?" he questioned himself as though no one were around to here. It was hard trying to keep Chroias contained under him. "Maybe I should just sling it over my shoulder and..."he lifted the covers over his shoulder as Chroias squealed from the inside. His hand landed across her backside once, twice until he heard he yelping from the inside. Suddenly her claws dug into his back and she twisted to bring him down.  
  
Mozenrath smiled, this was one time he didn't mind being helpless.  
  
Chapter 263 (by Nefret)  
  
"Congo?" came a voice out of the thick lush entanglement of the rainforest. "They call this the Congo?" A cutting sound was heard. "Why didn't they just get it over with and call it steamy hell hole of death!!!" The foliage was slashed away and the source of the voice came bashing into the scene in a none so subtle way.  
  
Chroias appeared next with a laugh. "Cause that would hurt the tourist quota!" She teased and ruffled her curls.  
  
"I don't' know, they call hell "the Abyss" and it always does good business." Moze jibed his lover and ruffled Nefret's hair in turn, half a mock to Nef half a mock to Chroias. Nef rolled her eyes at his sad attempt at a joke. He'd been all too cheery lately. From the best guess it was the combination of the magic hunt and Chroias. "mood."  
  
Nefret, even though she was holding a very big machete, endured his good mood. It was a rare day when Mozenrath took a hand to her that wasn't dominating or angry.  
  
"I for one like this place!!" Chroias burst out of the foliage and did a little turn. "Hot, death around very corner, roars and yells from fanged beasts. Hell it' damn right homey!!"  
  
Moze signaled for everyone to stop as he got out the map. "I think we're almost to the river!" He grumbled and looked around as if he could actually tell something from the tall trees and loosely hung vines. I wish I this place were better charted so I could zap us there with pinpoint accuracy. "We're either 5 or 50 miles away from it." He looked up with a gleaming smile. While being a spoiled princling who enjoyed lounging on comfy pillows enjoying the female company of his entourage, the old boy had a bit of adventure in him yet. Especially if the gold at the end of the rainbow happened to be of the magical kind.  
  
Nefret had gone considerably pale. "River?" she droned.  
  
Chroias grabbed the map and began to wind it up, the thing was near useless. "Yes the Congo river. We'll raft it for a few days at least until we get to something called Kindu. Supposed to be some ruined palace." She picked up the machete Nef had carelessly left stuck in a tree trunk and began their slow advance again.  
  
Nef watched Mozenrath go passed before falling into line herself. "I hate river travel." She grumbled tying to keep anyone from hearing her. "All those crocodiles.." She gave and involuntary shudder  
  
"How much do you know about this palace anyway sweetie?" Chroias called back to Mozenrath.  
  
The sorcerer grimaced at the name and gave Nef an I-dare-you-to- open-your-mouth look. "Not much really. Actually nothing. Just that it's supposed to be there."  
  
"Why was it abandoned? Who owned it and the staff and what happened to them?" Nefret caught up to walk beside the two. "I mean if you have a palace and a powerful magic staff you just don't leave town with everything behind." She snorted.  
  
"I'm sure they didn't leave town."  
  
"You mean they're still there?" Nef seemed confused.  
  
"No I mean something happened to them." Moze looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He could see her breath catch in her throat while a stern look came over her face.  
  
"What?" She asked lowly as if saying it louder would bring the forest canopy down on their heads.  
  
"We'll find out." He whispered just as low and pulled a vine out of their way.  
  
Chapter 264 (by Chroias)  
  
The two tigers stared down at the small group. There eyes filled with gold and their bodies painted in a red substance. Mozenrath smiled at the stone figures. This place was so full of power that the air tingled around him. Chroias sniffed casually here and there, she could feel it just as easily as he could. Even Nefret seemed to be looking around at everything. Her nerves were on end here.  
  
Mozenrath couldn't blame her. This place unnerved him to. Not that he would admit it. Chroias clutched his arm and he could tell by the deep rumble from her that she was turning towards her good mood again. Unfortunately, now was not the time. "Off." he said casually and a frown crossed her features. She let go, but stayed close, still sniffing slightly at things as they walked past. Odd writings caught his attention. Symbols and glyphs he'd never seen before. They looked somewhat Egyptian, but with markings and lines where they shouldn't be. "Nefret." he called her up. "Can you read any of this stuff?"  
  
Nefret moved forward and looked closely at the lines. "I don't know. They do seem familiar, but...something's wrong with them." She moved in closer and touched the lines. As usual, the symbols had been carved into the walls, but something with these were wrong. The extra lines were more like tiny gouges, like little creatures had stripped this place of it's words intentionally. Each gouge had a dab of blue fluid in it. As Nefret touched it, it rubbed off into her finger. She held it up for Mozenrath to see.  
  
He held her hand and brought it to Chroias's attention. "Any details you can give?"  
  
She sniffed delicately. "No. It is magical though. I wouldn't trust it." she handed Nefret a rag and she wiped her hand off. "Nefret, I know your not going to like this but I want you to stick close to me and Moze."  
  
"Wow! Considering your current mood that could be dangerous."  
  
Chroias ducked her head and a deep blush ran over her cheeks. "I can't help it. It's in the breeding!" she smiled and Mozenrath was torn between a smile and a scolding.  
  
"Quiet down the both of you. The magic in the air here positively reeks!" he walked through the entryway and gazed at the pillars. All of them had those strange symbols, slashed in places and covered with the blue powder. He was not by nature a twitchy man, but this whole place set his skin a tingle. His gauntlet on his arm burned into the bones beneath it and he cringed momentarily.  
  
Chroias was by his side in a flash. Nefret walked closer and grabbed a bottle of opium and a rag from her pack and went to remove the glove.  
  
"NO!" Mozenrath ordered and shoved them away. "It's just responding to the mana in the air! I'll be fine." he said as his brow began to sweat.  
  
Chapter 265 (by Nefret)  
  
Moze bit his lip and pulled his arms closer to himself. He felt involuntary shivers creep up his spin like tiny fingers seeking entrance into his nerves. He heard a breath somewhere. A deep breathe full of a desperate relief and a cruel intention. It wasn't something to his left or his right, not a sound from either of the girls; it seemed to come from the very deaths of his mind. Like some beast in the night of his psyche that had just been prodded awake. Mozenrath shook his head and tried to get within reason again. It was just the jungle heat, the day was heating up and the mosquito's buzz set nerves on end and made your brain swim.  
  
The sorcerer turned to the girls. He could see Nef was nervous as she talked lowly to Chroias, who also seemed disturbed by her words. Like the mosquitoes the conversation drifted to his over sensed ears. "Some of the symbols seem close to Egyptian signs of protection. Those are the ones that were most attacked. They loose all their protection when desecrated like this. I don't like it.."  
  
Mozenrath's hand went to his temple. He suddenly felt very sick of everyone and everything. His eyes rolled to the girls, their conversation now mixing loudly with the hum of the bugs. In his mind, where the breath had been heard a voice came, not his own, "bitch," "whore." It spat out as the noise of his female companions got louder and louder. Moze could feel an anger rising in him, a twitching in his muscles that wanted to lash out at every little annoyance. "Will you shut your mouth!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Nef, who had been talking, let her mouth hang in the air as she glanced to Mozenrath. She snapped her mouth shut and gave him the "look of death". The sorcerer, deep inside only no indication was on his face, was quite surprised at himself. He hadn't planned to yell, it just came out. But now that it had the rage was gone, the pressure relived as soon as he opened his mouth to scream. He stopped his cold sweat, the noises had quieted down, and he felt quite himself again. Looking at the hurt and angry faces of the girls he could feel a jab of guilt and regret in his heart but once he had done something he had to stick with it, no retraction was possible without losing face. Mozenrath stood tall and straighten his shirt. "Now if you don't mind were getting close to the ruined palace." He indicated and turned on his heels to head up the path. He winced as he heard the now angry stomps of the girls following him.  
  
The winding path subsided into the once manicured grounds of a great estate. The building was huge and seemed very foreign in the juggles of the Congo. What stone that peeped out of the vines was deep red, like no stone seen before. Above door sat a pair of laughing sculls, placed with loving hands across the bones of the arms and hands. They, with a merry mood, pointed to an inscription, left in it's entirety. Yet more Egyptian. With a quick motion of is arm to his minion Mozenrath pointed to the inscription. "Read."  
  
"Can't." Nef mocked his brilliant use of communication. "Its not Egyptian." She explained.  
  
"But those are hieroglyphs!" Chroias pointed out.  
  
"Yes, but the symbols don't spell out anything. It's just a bunch of sounds stuck together."  
  
"Just read it for Allah's sake!" Moze rubbed his temples. There was nothing he'd like more than to get inside out of this heat and Nef was holding it up. Moreover the place seemed to tug at his mind.  
  
Nef's lips pulled down a bit in annoyance "ba outce mou keyme lanan omi." She stumbled over the sounds.  
  
Mozenrath's eyes widened in reconization. "It's an ancient form of language, completely dead now. It was used to pass along spells from sorcerer to sorcerer without mortals being able to understand.  
  
Chroias bit her lip and hugged close Mozenrath side. She brushed her hand over his back but he gave no reaction. "What does it mean lover?"  
  
"What you want is here. It wants you in return." He voiced dully. The girls exchanged glances and Chroias pulled Nef closer to them. Moze came out if his little fantasy world and put an arm around the both girls shoulder. "Well we didn't come all this way to admire the stone work! Lets go!" He chipped cheerily as he pulled them to the door.  
  
Chapter 266 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias glared at Mozenrath's back as he headed them deeper into the ruined palace. The tingle in her spine was no longer due to her current mood but rather due to something she found distasteful in the air. She brought saliva into her mouth and spat onto the ground. Indignant as she felt, Mozenrath wouldn't be warned off even if she was to comment. This whole place had her on edge.  
  
Nefret came closer to her friend. "Don't like the feel of it either do you?" she commented.  
  
"No! I don't! But tell him that." she growled in a way that was a sure sign of her losing her temper.  
  
Nefret gulped and smiled in her cheer filled fashion. "Hey come on girl! You wouldn't want to spoil that nice little mood you've been in lately! She tasseled her purple hair and tied it back into a bun. The heat here was horrible. So bad that the girls had taken to wearing a short, easily moved in skirt and tops much like the ones Nefret had worn back in Egypt. Even Mozenrath had his shirt off and wrapped a handkerchief around his head.  
  
Chroias blushed warmly at the comment. "It's not something I can help. NO really!" she protested as Nefret scoffed and gave a yeah right. "It's a part of me. The animal part." she nodded and twitched her tail to and fro in the air and brought her claws forward. "Sometimes I think you forget I'm a demon."  
  
"You make it hard to forget!" Mozenrath yelled back to them and smiled at Chroias yelp of shame. She really couldn't help it,but that didn't mean he wasn't haveing fun with this. "Come on. Were close. I can feel it." He turned the corner and stopped short, as a spear head pressed to the flesh of his belly.  
  
"Moze!" Nefret called having seen him stop suddenly. "Hey Mozie, I though you were all desperate to get to this treas..."she stopped as she saw them "ure." her voice ended in a squeak.  
  
Chroias paused as she took note of the natives. All of them blacker then the night and armed to the teeth. Wild paint on their faces and bodies and hot glares in their eyes. They could have easily skewered Mozenrath then and there, but hadn't yet. She saw Mozenrath's gauntlet begin to glow and snagged him. "No. They haven't killed us yet!" she warned.  
  
Mozenrath looked put out, but stopped the power. "Nefret. Talk to them. Now!"  
  
Chapter 267 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret bit her lip and leaned closer to Mozenrath. "Talk to them? How????" She asked slightly surprised that he'd ask such a thing of her.  
  
"You're the linguist here! You mingled with the Africans in Egypt. Do SOMETHING!"  
  
"I don't know enough of the language to.." Nef cut off sharply as an annoyed and confused native pointed a sharp shard spear into the pit of her stomach. "Alright! I'll tell them we come in peace and bring them gifts.. That always goes over well." Nef leaned forward and grinned presently at the spear-wielding native. "Tou cameys la be di. (Translation: we come to take your goats and cheese) fou toam mepacaka. (Translation: we bring you camel dung for you dog faced mothers.)" Nef smiled again and was taken quite off guard when the spear was shoved deeper into her flesh, making a bit of an indent.  
  
Moze, fearing her skin would break, grabbed the shaft of the weapon and held it steadily. "What the hell did you just say???" He growled angrily. Nef shrugged helplessly. "Don't try to piece sentences together! Just say what you know wont offend them!"  
  
Nef's eyes pulled up and two the side in thought. There had once been a pigmy who the pharaoh hailed as the wisest man alive. He was taken out of the deep jungle when rumor of his religious knowledge came to Egypt. He knew all the houses of Horus and their layout. With much fan fair the pigmy was trotted from temple to temple to preach. He of course only spoke Swahili, which was translated for the sake of the crowd, but Nef, being the budding scribe she was, had picked up a few of his phrases. They might work here.  
  
The African native chooses then to speak in his tongue and Nef recognized the gist of his meaning. "This place is evil. No good man has a purpose here."  
  
Nef nodded. These were much the same words the pigmy has used to describe the pits of hell. Searching her memory for scraps of the pigmy's speech Nefret responded. "We are here to cleanse." The native seemed unconvinced and eyed her companions. Nef took up immediately. "I am a good priestess." She patted Mozenrath's chest. "Man of power." She hesitated at Chroias; the demon's look was a problem. she couldn't pass her off as mortal. or normal. With a humble look to the demon and bowing her head Nefret spoke. "A great goddess." She risked a look at the natives; they seemed convinced and dropped their spears.  
  
Moze seemed relived and exasperated at the same time. He really really really wanted to get to that treasure now, it was calling him, and not in a metaphorical way. Nef understood. "Take us to the place of greatest evil." She stumbled over the words but they seemed to understand and lead them down the hall.  
  
At a large vault all the natives cowered and pointed at the door. "There. We go no further. We leave you now to do what you must." The leader whispered and vanished into the darkness.  
  
Mozenrath looked to Nefret for a translation. She only shrugged and pointed to the door. "Your treasure my lord."  
  
Chapter 268 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias stared up at the halls towering above her. The patterns and paint made designs that boggle the eyes and elude the mind. each pattern seemed to consist of a smaller pattern, and even after that, a smaller one. These were the kind of patterns that could trap you inside. the kind that made you doubt your sanity if for to long you contemplated them. Her belly tightening, Chroias looked away and made her path towards Mozenrath.  
  
Mozenrath jerked for a second till her realized it was her. That worried him. Normally, his udnersenses could distinguish one flow of magical influence from another, but this place was absolutely swarming with mana flows. Either that or the demonic power Chroias held and the power of the staff they were after were very similar in base. It was a possibility. he checked back for a moment, making sure that Nefret was keeping along okay, and saw her wandering off the beaten path for a moment. Her eyes glazed over.  
  
"Damn." he whispered and ran back to help her. "Nefret!" he yelled once and got no response. "Nefret!" he called again as her figure disappeared behind one of the walls.  
  
"Moze what's happened to her? "Chroias questioned as she saw her friend dissapear. A fear was running it's course through her blood. This place was evil. Pure and unadulterated. The empty spot inside of her where her soul should have resided throbbed with the core of this place. She could understand the depth of insanity prevailing, and hated it.  
  
Instinctively, Mozenrath reached out for Chroias's hand and took it. "Come on were going to get her." he ran as fast as his legs would carry him. he saw a flash of purple as he rounded the corner and saw Nefret disappear behind another pillar.  
  
Chroias sniffed the air inquisitivly. "Something's pulling her." she realized. "It's pulling us too."  
  
Mozenrath sprinted after his minion while Chroias kept the pace. It was like traveling through a maze, one wrong turn and you were permanently lost. Apparently, this was not what the thing wanted. It would lead them one way and they'd lose sight of Nefret for a moment, and just as suddenly she' appear from nowhere and they'd continue following. A glow was encasing her now. She seemed to be under a hypnotic state.  
  
Rounding the next corner, Chroias stopped and screamed. Nefret was slumped against the floor, a small trickle of blood from her lips making a pit pit sound as it hit the ground.  
  
Chapter 269 (by Nefret)  
  
Moze felt a pit grow in his stomach threatening to push up into the back of his throat. Nefret was a chilling sight, her eyes half lidded flashed white as the lids flickered in a spasm, white scratches on her wrists and ankles were slowly growing red, not to mention the methodical drip of the vital fluid over her lips. He reflexively shuttered and closed his eyes. He could feel Chroias going limp, even the demon with a blood soaked past felt the scene to heart wrenching to take. She'd seen much of this, but not with Nefret as the central figure. Moze flashed his eyes open and drew the demon in his arms.  
  
Then, and only then, when the shock had worn off did they both notice something extraordinary. Nefret's blood meet the ground in a small pool that formed into a river that flowed over the floor. This wouldn't have been so extraordinary, many floors are less than level, but for the fact that the when the blood meet the barrier of a stone alter it writhed it's way up the sides of the stone in spider webs. Flowing together again as it came to the tabletop the blood raced towards the ornate staff resting there.  
  
"That's not right." Mozenrath stated the obvious. In quick motion he stepped forwarded, dropping Chroias at Nefret's side and grabbed the staff off the alter only nanoseconds before the blood hit the smooth orb of the globe cradled in the staffs top.  
  
The mana of the room changed considerably. It now seemed angry, desperate. Heaving and twisting as it suffered the loss. As Mozenrath held it he got the distinct feeling that the staff wanted nothing else than to wallow in the crimson fluid and coat itself in the life of his young minion.  
  
"Moze!' Chroias called out loudly, breaking the spell of the orb. The sorcerer stuffed the staff in his belt and dropped to his knees.  
  
"We have to get her out of here! Her mortal statues makes it all to easy for the mana to manipulate her." He called, the room was nearly silent but the echoing of the mana made the air seem defining. Moze swept the limp form in his arms and stood.  
  
"We have to find a sanctuary in this place!" Chroias yelled and took the intuitive to lead her lover out of the convoluted maze.  
  
The search of a room less infested with mana took them into the back. The two now stood outside a large door carved like a cross. The walls on either side of it were completely defaced of their original hieroglyphic décor. Chroias flung open the door to a Christian church set up in the depth of a pagan manner. "Coptic." Chroias almost nonchalantly commented.  
  
Moze entered first and motioned for Chroias to take down some of the tapestries and make a bed on the alter. Carefully he set Nefret down on the makeshift bed. He leaned his arms against the large table and breathed heavily, half from hauling around his less than waify minion and half from the exhilaration of the moment. He rubbed his gloved hand and watched Chroias inspect her friend. The damn appendage burned, the leather like a fire on his bones. The gauntlet was royally pissed over something.  
  
Wincing, but feeling relatively safe in this room, Mozenrath slipped off the leather covering to reveal the bone beneath. "Mozenrath." Chroias whispered. Mozenrath turned to her. "She's not moving." The demons voice was waving.  
  
Moze bit his lip hard and approached the still figure. Half afraid of what he'd feel the sorcerer placed a bony finger across Nef's upper lip and held it still there. The surprisingly sensitive appendage picked up the slow and rhythmical breath sweeping in and out of her nose. "She's fine." He assured his love.  
  
Not as second after he said it did Nef's eyes dart open and immediately focused on the bone finger in her face. She thrashed and looked to the owner of the hand. Her eyes grew wide with a fear Mozenrath had never seen Nefret point at him. It was a mortal fear that almost hurt him. The girl shrunk back, almost trying to imbed herself into the table, anything to get away from him. When she found herself stuck her mouth opened and her eyes screwed shut as a scream escaped the depths of her soul. Mozenrath grasped her arms tying to bring her to her senses. This only scared her more. Her eyes grew wild and she arched her back in a frantic attempt to get away. "Death! You are my death!!!!" Those words escaped her lips before she fell still in a faint.  
  
Chapter 270 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias leaned back against the wall weakly. "Moze.." she started but slumped. The whole world around her phased in and out. The Holy symbols that still remained stared at her. Her skin felt the presence of something more powerful. Someone who didn't care for her type of person. Chroias turned her red eyes to one of the cross's strewn about the place. It's golden beauty symbolized more then just the wealth of the church. That was man's meaning. Chroias knew what was behind that gold. And she knew that a cross made of simply wood, would have felt the same to her in this place.  
  
Mozenrath was bent of Nefret. He held the glowing staff in his hands and brought it close to her neck where her amulet of Hathor hung. Suddenly the staff sputtered and seemed to convulse for a moment. Mozenrath felt a small shock waver through him and jerked it away, the staffs glow returned, but not as strong.  
  
"It doesn't like this place." Chroias whispered and Mozenrath turned to look at her. "And this place doesn't like us." she said and looked again at the cravings of the Catholic Son.  
  
Mozenrath looked at the staff. "Are you saying that this thing is of demonic origin?" he asked and Chroias weakly nodded her head.  
  
"Yes. Holy implements don't like people like me..." she glared at the staff. "Or things like that." she looked over at Nefret. Still flat on the couch. "You'll have to take care of her Moze, this place is only warning me now, but if I stay..."she looked at the figure of the cross with the son on it over the pulpit. She knew no one else but she could se it's face shift so as not to look at her. No one else could see those eyes close and the very cross itself cringe at her presence here. Anyone with a soul was welcome here, and that excluded her. She headed for the door. "Throw the staff out to me Moze. This church doesn't like it being here either."  
  
Mozenrath shook his head. "NO! I went through to much trouble just to throw the staff away." he clenched it fiercely. "I won't just toss it out!"  
  
"Mozenrath please!" Chroias begged as the doors swung open, urgeing her to leave. "Please I don't even know what that thing will do to you!" A sudden shrill blast of wind tossed and twisted through the church. Chroias felt it wind around her. He'd had enough. HE wanted her out. Chroias was forced out the door, landing on a bed of ferns.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"What does she know?" Mozenrath growled to himself...and maybe to the staff. "What does she know about this?"  
  
Nefret moaned and turned on the couch, the amulet of Hathor becoming pressed between her cleavage. Mozenrath watched of a moment, the shin of the chain that held it, the way to curved around her neck. He could chock her with that chain. And it wouldn't take him more then a few seconds. Rip the holy implement out, twist it behind her, grab her arms and not let them move. Watch as that pretty mahogany face went from brown, to blue, to green, and then became loose and weak, as she suffocated.  
  
Mozenrath shook himself suddenly and looked at the staff. It glowed cheerfully in his grip. Even his gauntlet didn't seem to be bothering him for now. If he didn't know better...  
  
Mozenrath dismissed the feeling.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Nefret could feel the press of the amulet against her skin. Even in her fit filled sleep she knew that there was comfort in that piece. A mist began to swirl around in her mind. The whole air was filled with a magic she'd never experienced before. Something that she could only half understand. The shape turned familiar to her. A shape she had danced before and prayed to. A shape that she had worshiped and even confided in. A shape that meant as much to her as the shape of a cross meant to a Catholic.  
  
And it glowed.  
  
The mist dispelled and swirled around the image of the amulet in her mind. Like it was possessing it, pushing itself inside. Nefret felt her heart swell with warmth, and fell back into her sleep, the dream al but forgotten.  
  
Chapter 271 (by Nefret)  
  
Mozenrath smiled smugly as he sat near the dozing form of Nefret. His fingers toyed with the glint of the gold cord of the necklace. He pulled slightly, watching with a sick glee as the metal pressed itself into the uppermost curve of her neck. Something inside him, something only comparable the few and far between presence of his conscious, whispered to him exactly how demented this exercise was. Yet, something more powerful raged in his mind. It was just a guilty pleasure, this play with death on his minion. Harmless, but fun to see how easy it would be.  
  
Nef twitched slightly at the tender tightness across her neck and stirred. Coming to with an echo in her mind "Seth touches you my daughter." Nefret only caught that much of the whisper as she came to her senses after her long rest. She paid it now mind, just rendments of a strange dream. Slowly black/brown eyes slid open to catch Mozenrath's face all to close her hers. She made a half confused half annoyed face.  
  
The sorcerers face seemed to fall at this expression. "No scream for me this time?" he asked with a pout. Nefret's face twisted in confusion, she obviously didn't recall what she had done the last time she had woken. Moze smiled and stood up, a new spring in his step.  
  
"Where's Chroias?" Nef sat up with a start, realizing the absence in the room.  
  
"Gone." Moze breezed. "She didn't like the.. Décor" He grinned and waved to the catholic crosses.  
  
Nef looked over her to see the Christ hanging painfully on a cross directly above her. She wondered at it for a moment with a strange fascination.  
  
"Eh little pagan?" Moze elbowed her suddenly from seemingly nowhere.  
  
Nef pushed him away in annoyance and dropped her feet over the edge of her bed. "Your all to cheery, you scare me this way." She smiled jokingly and turned away from him to stand.  
  
"Do I?" Mozenrath's eyes glinted in tune with the sudden brightness of the staff. His voice lowered. "Do I scare you now little girl?" He approached her silently. Nef shook her head and rolled her eyes not bothering to turn to him. "I'm honored." He hissed,  
  
"Very funny" Nef hissed and turned on her heels. "I've never been in a catholic church before. funny place it is. Not much color or cheer." she breezed and headed into the shadows that hung in the back of the church and ascended the staircases there to the bell tower.  
  
"It's your choice, but the big bad wolf is up there." Moze laughed horsy. Somewhere in his mind a tiny voice rang out 'that was mean' Moze heard it loud and clear and a pang of guilt touched the coolness of his heart. It was shatter as a deep throaty voice, comparable to his own, echoed in his ears. 'Shut and enjoy the ride, were going to have so much fun with our little female friend.' Moze smiled wickedly as he followed Nefret. Depraved in it's malice, a red light shown in his eyes and every muscle in his body went sinewy and strong.  
  
******  
  
Chroias grumbled as she sifted though the ruble of the abandon house. This place felt like the very depth of hell. It had the same kind of spirit, of a place that had been soaked in blood, with the echoes of tormented soul in every nook and cranny. In the bricks, in the mortar, in the wood and the metal, everything had absorbed the events of this house.  
  
Families, happy once, dead on the floor at the hands of the one they trusted most. Husband killing wife, uncle taking the life of nieces, Mothers sending their children into the valley of the shadow. All the killers the most loved in the family, all of them remorseful in their deed after the fact. All of them taking their own life in grief of what they had done. All of them with one thing in common, one thing they held in their hands....  
  
Chroias shook her head suddenly, trying to get the strange pictures out of her head. Where had such images come from? Were they rubbed off on her from the furniture? From the brick and mortar, the wood and metal? She shivered and hopped, just hopped Mozenrath was keeping Nefret safe. Hopped, just hopped that they were ok.  
  
*****  
  
Nef hummed in interest as she entered the bell tower. It was dusty, rat infested, and a none to pretty place. Still a large bronze hell hung from weakened rafters, a dull shine in the gloom and doom of the dilapidated church. With a laugh, full of the childish innocence she sometimes lapsed into, Nefret grabbed her lord's hand and pulled him into the dome of the bell.  
  
"Hello!!!!" She cried out as she spun. Her voice echoed back a thousand times louder. Surprised at the volume she laughed and slipped out from the bell, leaving Moze cringing as the glow of his eyes increased. "Sorry." She breezed half heartedly from outside the echoing dome.  
  
Mozenrath's growl was caught up by the bell as the slipped out of the bronze dome to find half of Nefret's torso hanging out the tall window. "You should see this my lord." Nef's voice came slightly in awe. Mozenrath's lips pulled into a wicked smile that nearly curled at the edges. ".. So pretty." Nef whispered as she gazed on the scene outside. A hand was felt on her back, one she took as friendly.  
  
The sorcerer bit his lip in sheer glee as he laid a hand between her shoulder blades. She was so unbalanced leaning out the window like that, so so trusting. The muscles in his arm began to strain like a mousetrap waiting to spring. Chapter 272 (by Chroias)  
  
"NO!!" Mozenrath jerked away from Nefret's figure. He felt his head swell with pain and moaned. "Ouch!" he leaned against the bell and heard a reverberating 'bong' as the staff hit it. The sound soared into the walls and through the windows, piercing the veil of evil around this place.  
  
~~  
  
Down below, Chroias heard the bell chime and fell to her knees. Something inside her yelped as the ground under her seemed to shake. "I have to get Moze." she whispered to herself. To much longer around this place and she was going to lose herself.  
  
~~  
  
Nefret covered her ears and swung back inside. "OH Hathor." she yelled and covered her ears. A sudden burning covered her right between her breasts. "Ouwch!" Nefret hollered and jerked the amulet of her god out from it's nestled place. For just the briefest second, she could swear she saw it glow. But then again the sun was setting, it was probably just catching the glare.  
  
Mozenrath covered his ears and saw the staff sputter and begin to fad out. "NO!" he yelled and put his hands against the bell. "Stop that RACKET!" He fired a bolt of energy at the bell and it stilled almost immediately. Mozenrath gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowed almost shut and his head pulsing with a headache. His temples throbbed. Moaning again, he put his fingers to his head and began to rub. "Oh Allah my head hurts." he groaned and leaned against the bell. He picked up he staff and warmed it's orb with his hands until it picked up it's glow again. Mozenrath sighed in relief. "Well now that that's back to order..." he laughed when he saw Nefret covering her ears still. Turning around, he saw his reflection in the bell, and nearly yelled..  
  
Poking out from the temples of his head were horns. Not to big, but bigger then Chroias's. And in a much more noticeable place. The weren't straight either, but curved, in the way an impalas would be and seemed razor sharp.  
  
Mozenrath went slack jawed and noticed another change, His teeth! They'd become wolfish and razor edged. Not all of them, only his canines and incisors.  
  
Nefret groaned and turned toward Mozenrath "Moze I swear if you hit that bell one more time I'm gonna knock you out!"  
  
Mozenrath pulled his turban over his horns and only opened his mouth a little to speak. "If you don't like it then you can stay outside with Chroias." He growled out at her and pointed to the door.  
  
Nefret looked shocked for a moment, but turned her face hard set so as not to show it. "Well just fine then MY LORD!" she made a swift bow and pushed past him, purposefully knocking the staff a little.  
  
Mozenrath couldn't explain where the impulse came from, but his hand reacted without his approve. He shot forward, smacking Nefret directly on her left buttocks cheek.  
  
Chapter 273 (by Nefret)  
  
Chroias's lips turned down as an indigent yell broke out over the house. It was female, that much was clear, and very pissed. It was followed by the sound of a slamming door and the vague echoes of a triage of gods and goddess incantations. "Nefret." Chroias rolled her eyes. "I can't leave those two alone for one moment." She grumbled and followed the sound of the traveling ruckus.  
  
It was easy to find Nefret the way she was carrying on.  
  
The demon caught her by the shoulders. "Okay girl, I think even the gods can hear you now!" Chroias chuckled slightly as she grasped her friend by the shoulders.  
  
Out of Nef's mouth came a string in her native language, Coptic. It meant little to nothing to Chroias but whatever it was it sounded nasty.  
  
"Come on now. You can tell me about it later. I've found a nice little hide out." She lead Nef out the door and out around to the back of the house. "I think it used to be the slaves quarters. Not all that frilly, you're a lucky slave ya know, but it seems to be quite calm in the manna department. It's got a few cot and a little." their voices faded out as the foliage of the jungle and the untamed lawn swallowed them up.  
  
*****  
  
Mozenrath watched the to go from the bell tower window. He groaned as he pulled himself back inside. His reflection was caught again in the dull bronze. Slowly he approached it, as if it might jump out and grab him. He pulled at his lips, examining the fangs now rooted in his mouth.  
  
"What is this? What has happed to me?" He whispered so low he himself almost didn't hear it. He was surprised when an answer came.  
  
"The best thing to happen to you to." The rough and unpolished voice rung in his ears, but not from the outside.. From the inside!!!!  
  
"Who ARE you?" Moze shrunk back from his image. He fingered the horns on his forehead, let his fingers slip down to feel the hardness of his teeth behind his lips.  
  
"I am you, you are me, and we are us. Together, separate, one mind with two purposes? Or one purpose with two minds. confusing isn't it?"  
  
Moze only shook his head and fell against the wall. With a groan he slid to his bum and sat there, hunched like a gargoyle against the gothic window of the bell tower. "Your not a part of me."  
  
"Are you sure?" The thing whispered. "We all have a little demon in us. You, mayhap, more than others." The voice moved from his heads to the staff.  
  
"NO!!!" Moze shook his head as if to get the demon out. "I'm more. more. civilized than that!"  
  
"Mayhap sorcerer. Mayhap you are the height of urbane and I'm just the devil, pushed itself into your head making you do bad things." The thing cracked in a laugh.  
  
Moze laid his head on the arms he'd rested no his up-pulled knees. He remembered clearly the want to kill Nefret. To choke her, to push her out the window. He'd taken them as just a strange impulse, now he knew. "But I resisted."  
  
"Yes for now. But I'm becoming you sorcerer. I'm in you mind now, you blood, edging into your muscles, stealing away in you bones. Soon we will be one completely and I'll have my way. OUR way."  
  
A mental picture given to him by the beast in the shadows of his. The girls, slaughtered. Him standing above them, horns twice as long, muscles bulging, fangs extended as he panted and his hands soaked in blood. Mozenrath felt his gut clench and he growled angrily. "You bastered! Why?" "I want blood. I've done this for centuries feed on mortal blood with a fervor! The oceans could have gone red and the glaciers froze bloody with all the blood I spilled. But God on high didn't like me shredding through his children like so many sheep. He sent a holy army after me, put me in this globe of glass. And I still to this day hunger."  
  
"And you cant' kill your own prey you inanimate object." Moze huffed and snarled.  
  
"Ahh there's the rub!! You don't see a staff jump up and kill many people to you? So I have to find some poor dolt to do it for me. Oh many families have come to live here, with children and babied and some over zealous sorcerer wanting to live in the grandeur and promise this place has held no mater what bloody things had happened to the last family. I've drawn them here. Called to them. Told them with silent whispers to bring their families. My fingers have stretched far and wide to whisper innocently to greedy sorcerers like you. Did you not wonder why you so readily wanted to bring Nefret with you were normally you would have fought tooth and nail to keep her locked up at home? And that's all I could do from so far away. Call and beckon. But now you're here and I'm in! I'll have the blood I want, that I need."  
  
"No you will not." Moze looked up with a detrained look. "I'd take my live before those of the ones I love."  
  
"Than do so now. I'm hungry and your blood with do as good an any other." The thing crackled a bit. "Oh come now it isn't so bad to kill your family. The way they trust you to get real close, the way they ask 'why why?' I think you'll like it."  
  
The demon laughed and slowly Moze felt the edges of his lips pull up. It was an unfightable impulse and the demons laugh became his own.  
  
Chapter 274 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias and Nefret heard the laughter penetrating deep into the darkness of the jungle. "What was that?" the demon turned around and sniffed the air.  
  
Nefret growled. "Probibly Mozenrath laughing about what he did!" she snarled almost worse then the demon. "I swear I could knock his block off! How could he do that to me!"  
  
Chroias shrugged. Nefret had told her about Mozenrath's wandering hand. She was NOT happy about that, but then again Mozenrath was in the bell tower of the church. There was no way she would make it up there before HE got angry at her presence. Everything was spinning in her mind. She could feel the animosity of the presence in this area., it anger at her and the staff being here. It wasn't so bad in the woods, the sharp ringing in Chroias's mind that came whenever there was a Holy place near by. Even Nefret's medallion had a small effect on her.  
  
Nefret looked over at Chroias. Her red eyes were glowing softly, her ears twitched gently. Nefret smiled and wrapped a helpful arm around her. "Snap out of it girl!! Even Moze didn't brood this much!" She walk over to a stream and cupped some of the water in her hands to wash her face with. "Ugh this whole place is so humid!" Nefret stripped down to her undergarments and splashed water at Chroias. "Come on in girl! You can't be any more comfortably then I am in this weather!"  
  
"Nef get out of the water!!!!" Chroias yelled and grabbed the minion's arm, hauling her out with incredibly strength.  
  
"What the..."Nefret saw the bubbles surround the area where she had just been. "What the!!!"  
  
Chroias took a stick and dipped it in among the bubbles. there was some thrashing and snapping sounds ,and Chroias drew out only half a stick.  
  
"Piranas!"  
  
"No. They're native to South America. These are magical. There're called pirdackas. Nasty little basterds." She tossed the stick in and handed Nefret her cloths. "I'll see if I can find a pool where it's safe."  
  
"Never mind." Nefret gasped and pulled her clothing on. "I think I'd better go check on Moze. "she stopped for a moment and look back at her friend. "Roi why did you leave the church?"  
  
Chroias halted for a moment. "I...you remember when I told you about not having a soul?" Nefret nodded her head. "Well this has to do what with that. See, in most countries, such as one's with multiple deities, my fathers deity status solves any problems as to my entering a temple ,it still doesn't feel quite right ,it still feels like eyes are watching me with a malevolence I can't quite place." she shuddered. "But it isn't like this. The Catholic's, the Christian's, Greece and Rome may not believe in their god, but they do, and it is that belief that makes their god strong. HE doesn't like me. In fact you could say it comes about as close to hatred as HE can get! I didn't want to leave Moze there, but I had no choice. HE doesn't like whatever is in that staff either"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mozenrath screamed as he walked down the stairs. The cross's were glowing at him, moving in patterns. The eyes of the slumped figure over the pulpit closed and turned it's head away.  
  
'Fallen from grace,further then you ever have before.'  
  
  
  
These were not the kind of words that the manifesting demon had spoken. This was more powerful, more demanding, and the most beautiful voice he'd ever been blessed enough to hear in his life. It sang with complex harmony's and notes that couldn't have existed, and yet spoke with a power and a thunder that could not be ignored. the demon in him screamed and thrashed terribly, hateing this new power, scratching to tear at it.  
  
'It will hurt.but it will pass.Survive,love and survive.'  
  
  
  
Mozenrath tried to speak, but couldn't speak for a snarl came from his lips. The demon was manifesting further.  
  
`'I can not stand this place !get me out!' It screamed and rushed for the doors. It grabbed the cross styled handles and screamed again, the patterns burning into it's flesh. Mozenrath felt the pain too and screamed along with it. Still they tore open the door and ran into the jungle.  
  
Mozenrath felt the bushes rip at his clothing 'Chroias !Where is Chroias!' he called out desperately  
  
'Mortal fool. She can't help you? that pampered demon wanna be is weak compared to me .She is of Greecean linage! destroyed by being evil without being evil. I am of the Beelzebub himself. Evil by all that is unholy!" The demon laughed and whipped something inside Mozenrath. Something that went down to the very core of his life and pain. Something that he thought he'd lost long ago. he fell to the ground, still feeling the stinging and hearing the name over and over again.  
  
Natasha  
  
Shatana  
  
Ah Satan  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
Thats how Nefret and Chroias found him, lieing on the dirt ground and looking faint. "What's the matter with him?" Chroias questioned.  
  
Nefret felt his forhead. "Fever. He's overheated and clamy!" She began to take off his top shirt and hat, and remove some of that heavy jewelry around his neck. "Let's get him back to the Citadel. You undress him and I'll find some cold water and ice somewhere."  
  
Chapter 275 (by Nefret)  
  
Chroias tail swished as she stood beside the bed looking with troubled eyes down at her lover. Something about him just didn't feel right. She could feel powers floating around her, everywhere around them. They weren't good either. Her own, Mozenrath's, the aura of the Citadel, the hundreds of magical items stored in every nook and cranny of this god- forsaken house.. She had gotten used to it all. But now there was something underlying, like smelling something burning in a perfume shop. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the other mana, tried to pinpoint the one lying under it all. If she could just nail it to the floor.  
  
"Chroias!" A voice finally got into the demons ears. Chroias looked up rather surprised to see Nef staring at her expectantly. "Heard me that time eh space cadet?" Nef ginned crookedly. No matter how many times she tried to sponge Mozenrath off he broke out in bead of sweat a moment after her attention left that area. He thrashed slightly every now and than and let out a plaintive moan. Nef didn't like the look of it at all. With a growl she tossed the rag into the cool water and crossed her arms in a shrug.  
  
Chroias sighed and sat down on the bed. "He's come through worse than fevers Nef. You forget he isn't entirely moral. Fevers for him aren't as deadly as they would be for say you." She rubbed her temples and moaned. "What's worrying me is this burring smell under the perfumes." She groaned.  
  
"Huh?" Nef's face twisted as she sat down beside the demon.  
  
"Nothing little mortal." She nudged Nef jokingly. "Nothing for you to be concerned about." That was a blatant lie. "Just overload of the senses. Err! And aftermath of the jungle!" Chroias pulled slightly at her cloths, stiff and slightly grungy from the humidity. "I'm going to take a bath. Take care of him k?" She glanced at Nefret as she nodded. A rather pleading look. "Promise."  
  
Nef rolled her eyes. "Yes yes." She shuttled off the demon and tuned back to the prostrate Mozenrath. "More trouble than you're worth." She chuckled, taking the opportunity to throw back on of his own insults. Softening a bit she watched his face twist slightly as if in a bad dream. With the love a sister she placed her palm to his cheek and frowned, while not as warm as before he still had a fever. Sighing her eyes fell onto his right arm. Now that he was shirtless she could see the skin bordering the gauntlet was red and raw, a sure sign it was inflamed yet again. Shaking her head she grasped the glove and started to pull it off.  
  
Mozenrath's eyes slid open a bit to watch Nefret touch her hands to the glove. He sprang into action, grasping her by the arm and twisting her closer. "What are you doing?" His voice was gruff as if he was about to lose it.  
  
Nef faltered a moment before regaining her tongue. "Just taking off your gauntlet! It looks like it's hurting you!!" She growled.  
  
Moze took in a deep breath, suppressing his sudden outburst. Slowly he let go of and lay back down. "Forgive me. I'm just a bit... Thirsty." He tried to sound reasonable.  
  
Nefret gave him an incredulous look and stood back up to slip off her gauntlet with a hard yank. "I'll go get you something." She shook her head but smiled a bit.  
  
Moze watched her leave, gauntlet in hand. Something crimson running over his finger caught his eye. He raised his hand to watch a drop of blood hang on his fingertips. He must have accidentally jabbed Nef with his now slightly long fingernails. With a troubled face he went to whip it off. Before he could however the drop absorbed into his skin, leaving no trace of it's existence. Inside himself he felt the dark beast in his mind give a satisfied 'ummm'. Satisfied but not full yet.  
  
Now, after the little prank Xerxes had pulled it was a custom in the Citadel that if the Gauntlet wasn't on Mozenrath's hand it was locked up in a chest hiding in the library. It was just about the safest place for it. That being said the most dangerous place for it to be was on Mozenrath's hand, but there was nothing to do about that. That's where Nef headed first, to secure the precious gauntlet, than onto the kitchen.  
  
Chroias groaned and flicked at a floating bubble. Her swimming head had settled down a bit but she still felt worn out. No answer yet as to the strange new mana. Slipping beneath the surface the demon let herself relax. Her head was pounding, she could hear it. Boom boom boom. Wait. that wasn't her head..  
  
Sitting straight up and bursting out of the foam of the bath Chroias looked around for the source of the sound. It was the door someone was pounding on it furiously. "Chroias!" Rang out a failure voice.  
  
"Come in!" The demon yelled back. In straggled at frazzled looking Egyptian. "What the hell happened? You're supposed to be looking after Mozenrath!"  
  
Nef took in several breaths. "I would if I could! I went to get him a drink. when I came back he was gone!!" She pulled herself together and grabbed the demons robe for her. "The gauntlet has disappeared to." She informed her as she handed her the covering. "The staff as well. I looked all over." She paused to frown. "I can't find him anywhere."  
  
Chapter 276 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath's body wandered the corridors of the Citadel. It had almost no sign of life to it. Almost as though the very breath in it's lungs were frozen. At this stage of it's possession, his body could have been closely related to a mamlucks. The demon chattered away to him. Not really to him so much as at him. If Mozenrath's consciousness could have been considered to have a physical body, it would have been hog tied.  
  
'I doubt you'll survive you know.' It chortled as Mozenrath's being struggled. 'It is very rare that I leave my victims alive afterwards. Possession is such an unpredictable deal .Sort of like HMO.' It laughed at it's own privet joke  
  
'You can't DO this to me!' Mozenrath screamed and struggled. 'I will not be a party to this ludicricy! How dare you! If it wasn't for me you'd still be stranded in that backwater run down palace of yours!!'  
  
he being of the demon manifested inside of Mozenrath. 'Oh really?' The demon stretched out its hands and twined them around Mozenrath's neck. 'Simplilton! If you hadn't responded I simply would have found another! You think you are the only power hungry sorcerer in the seven deserts!'  
  
It's grip got tighter and Mozenrath felt himself choke. Those claws dug into his mind, feeding off his memories. He felt himself being violated past all things he'd ever experienced before. 'Stop! Stop!' he yelled and the demon lessened his grip.  
  
'This Chroias...she means much to you doesn't she? 'He got his answer when Mozenrath's being growled and lowered his eyes. 'It will be easy enough to manipulate her. She loves you you know. It's a rare thing for a demon to experience. But this Nefret thing, I am confused about her purpose here.' The demon twined around Mozenrath, squeezing him like a python would it's food. She is...a slave? No,that is what you'd have the world think. she is...more then that somehow.' Mozenrath felt the penetration run deep, he bit back his whimper. 'She is...a close companion...a harem girl?'  
  
It took Mozenrath a moment to realize it but the last part had been a question. A ray of hope suddenly shone through. Immediatly, Mozenrath began bringing up images in his own mind. Allah save him if Nefret ever discovered what he though of just then. But for now, he could use the misconception of the purpose of a female in his home against the demon.  
  
Surprisingly the demon took the ease with which the image came to be his control settleing in. 'Ah a harem girl. 'he chuckled easily, satisfied with the image, and put it away like a file to a storage container. 'What ever happened to the good old days when sorcerers were stodgy old men with no other ambition then world domination and hoplessness? You kids today, only one thing on your mind!' The demon considered. This could, however, be used to my advantage. Both the harem girl and the demon.'  
  
Mozenrath felt the demon begin to push him further down. He could still 'see' through his own eyes, but not interfere. They were on the way to the bedrooms quarter of the Citadel, to Nefret's room.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nefret dunked her head under the water of her bath. Chroias was making a sweep over the Citadel for Moze. She wasn't overly worried. Her master had a propensity for doing these things. He's get sick and then want to make up for it by working in the lab diligently for the next couple of days. 'Crazy ass' She though and poured some shampoo into her hands and began to lather her hair up. Sighing as the smell of sandalwood began to flow through her senses, she settled down into the water all the way up to her neck. She would kill right now for a way to go all he way under water and just sit at the bottom. So relaxing, so peaceful.  
  
Anubis wandered in, Mepho close on his heels. Despite reservations and animosities between cats and dogs the kitten and the pharaoh hound seemed to get along splendidly. Anubis leaned his head over the side of the tub and whined to be petted.  
  
Nefret laughed. "Silly mutt." she scratched his head affectionetly. The hounds dark eyes seemed happy now, contented with his mistress. "Who is a good puppy? Who?" She scratched his ears and Anubis barked joyfully while Mepho tried to find a way up the slick sides of the tub.  
  
Finally, the kitten meowed in aggravating and began scaling Abubis's legs. He climbed up until he was parched comfortably on top of the hounds head. He meowed once, like saying remember I'm here too. And swiped playfully at Nefret's hand as she went to pet him. He chewed on one of her fingers while Nefret giggled. Despite the kittens namesake, he was a sweet little thing.  
  
Nefret heard soft footsteps coming through her room and dunked her head underwater to get the soapsuds out. It was probably Chroias, come to ask if she'd had any luck with finding Moze. she came back up and stood in the tub, searching for a cloth to dry her eyes with. Her hands felt around the sides of the tub, and along the floor till a hand met her's, holding out a dry towel. "Thanks." she mumbled and covered her head with it. "So did you have any luck with finding Mozenrath?" Nefret jerked the towel off turning around to talk to Chroias. She froze in place.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chroias walked along the buildings in the dead city bellow. The mamlucks ignored her, only an occasional one or two bowing. Despite her unmarried status, she could be considered the 'Queen' of the Citadel. Mozenrath had ordered a few of them to bow when she walked past, another one of his odd ways of showing love.  
  
She had searched nearly this whole place from top to bottom ,and still no sign of him. Chroias sat down and stood back up again. She twitched slightly around her lips. There was more then one reason she needed to find that sorcerer! She was still in her 'mood' right now, and was likely to be for another two weeks or so. It was always so damn flighty around this time of year.  
  
"It's times like this I honestly wish I was a human! They don't suffer from this sort of thing!" she yelled to the winds.  
  
Chapter 278 (by Nefret)  
  
Water white capped with suds spilled over the edges of the tub in a flood as Nef fell back into the water and gathered the foam around herself in a futile attempt to cover her body. Mozenrath's eyes watched her laughingly, the demon was enjoying this, Moze himself was wincing. Ohh Nefret was going to be pissed. He knew she would think little of lashing out at him, and under normal circumstances no harm would come to her of that action, but this time it wasn't him in control of his body. It was something much more dangerous. The demon parted Mozenrath's mouth and a dry laugh fell from it.  
  
Nef looked up from her exercise in modesty to glare at him, eyes sharp as daggers. "What the hell were you.." Her fingers were already grasping a heavy glass oil bottle. Mozenrath's conciseness braced for the blow and the undeniable lash out it would bring, however nothing came. Nefret had stopped dead, gazing at him, mouth slightly parted and eyes wide in atonishment. "Moze.."  
  
The sorcerer's conssisnouss boggled at his minion, unable to explain that look in her eyes. The demonic being however seemed to now know exactly what he was thinking the moment he thought it. Sencing it didn't know what she was staing at the demon turned their shared body to a wall mirror. A small gasp escaped Moznerath, his mind anyways. The bones of his face stuck out, creating a sharp and jutted appearnce, he was a sort of gray color and thinner than normal. He looked like a man on his death bed. And as he turned back to Nefret he realized that's what she must think. In a quick motion, and retaining as much diginatly as she could Nef stood up and whipped a towel around herself. Stepping out of the bath she never took her wide yes off his face.  
  
"Moze what's wrong with you?" Her voice was full of concern, no longer was she mad about the intrusion on her privacy, she could understand if coming from a man who looked as sick as he did at that moment. Her wet hand came up to test the tempture of his skin. Mozenrath's heart ached, The one time Nef was kind to him and he, or rather the demon, was going to chaff her. "Are you ok?"  
  
The demon twisted up his mouth and caught Nefret's hand. "I'm fine my dear." He growled. The indignant face Nefret made at the pet name didn't phase him much. "Would you come with me please?" He asked, forcing her hand away from his face and pulling her hard to the door.  
  
Nef held onto her towel but had no other choice to follow him. In her mind she feared he'd gone deleriouse with his fever and this was just the request of a mad man. Still it was best not to leave him alone. So he followed him, giving at the back of his head in a mix of conceren and fear.  
  
****  
  
Chroais scrapped her nails across the walls of the hall as she wondered down to the chamber hall in search of Nef. No news on the front. As she sung the door open to Nefret's comfortable room the sent of sandalwood blasted in her face. A sure sign Nef was in the bath. "Nef." The demons face fell as noises sounded in the bathroom, funny whinny scatchy noises. Frantic and pleading in a way. "Are you ok?" She asked and pushed open the door a bit.  
  
Bursting from the steamy bath came Anubis, only slightly tripped up by Mempho. The dog was in action within seconds, sniffing the air and circling. Not one to take the behavior of animals loosely the demon rushed into the bath to find it empty. Returning to the room a few seconds later Chroias caught the dog by his heavy collar and got him face to face. "What happened? Where's Nef? Have you seen Moze?"  
  
Of course the hound couldn't talk, but the did a good job with body language. A deep plaintive growl escaped his throat. The demon nodded at that and stood up. That was all the confirmation she needed. Zapping a leather lead from thin air she snapped it onto the collar and pointed to the door. "Take me to them."  
  
And off they went, the dogs nose planted firmly to the ground and pulling the lead taunt. A dread Chroias refused to acknowledge was settling over here. They were heading straight towards the dungeons.  
  
Chapter 279 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret followed her master diligently. Her heart raced with unspeakable dread, the air around her feeling stiff and cold. He hadn't even given her the damn time to change into some clothing. She had managed to wrap the towel around her in an almost toga like fashion and was pleased for now. It showed no more then she usually did. "Moze, where are we going?" she yelled to the shadowy figure in front of her.  
  
"You'll see dearest." he whispered, his voice low and delirious. He almost sounded like he was choking. He stumbled suddenly and Nefret lurched forward to help him steady himself. Mozenrath chuckled and swung her around in front of him "Thank you. Nice to know someone cares."  
  
His voice was hypnotic, swaying in her mind. Nefret felt her thoughts become fuzzy and her mind get clouded. Her vision swayed back and fourth. "Moze...Mozenrath what's happening?" she slumped to he ground and felt finger tracing the lines of her quickly made toga.  
  
"Nothing little minion nothing. Just sleep...sleep...sleep." Mozenrath smiled as Nefret fell under. "Now, to enjoy myself." the demon began to move his hands to her strap.  
  
'NO!' Mozenrath lurched forward while the demon thing was distracted. he side slammed into it's mind and the actual body was flung down the step as though it had been impacted from the side. Mozenrath could feel the bruises that were sure to develop.  
  
The devil thing cursed loudly when they landed with a thump on the floor bellow. 'You idiot! 'it screamed and kick Mozenrath's mind. The body lurched and Mozenrath felt the pain. The demon took it's hands and shoved them completely into Mozenrath's brain, violating his deepest corners. 'That was the last time you interfere with my pleasures sorcerer!'  
  
The body of Mozenrath stood, and in the pools of water of the dungeon floor, he could see himself begin to change. The small horns which had been easily hideable now jutted from his temples, curving around backwards and sharpening up. His body that had looked so sickly before began to buff up, his arms growing muscular all save for the bone appendage. His skin went from pale and gray to nearly a crimson red color in only a few second. His teeth began growing, aching in his jaws and becoming so sharp he bit his lip. The nails on his fleshed hand grew to a claw like length and curve at the end. His feet turned gargoylish, his hair became a mane, and his eyes became that of a snakes.  
  
The demon looked at its new appearance in a mirror. 'Not bad. Not bad at all. 'It seemed genuinely pleased with it's work and turned around, admiring itself in the water. A low moan echoed on the stair and he turned, seeing and remembering Nefret. A predatory growl rumbled from his belly. Mozenrath struggled inside, but was of no force. The demon moved towards Nefret's form.  
  
'I won't let you do this to her!' Mozenrath screamed and tried to attack the demons manifested form. 'So help me I'll kill you for this! Don't you TOUCH her!'  
  
The demon slapped him back. 'I swear I've never seen a man so worked up over a bed girl! Can she really mean that much to you? 'It searched his mind in an sweep. 'Oh yes, yes she does! Very well sorcerer. I'll leave her be for now. besides, I much prefer blood over ravish.' The demon scooped up Nefret's body in his massive arms. She rolled and opened her eyes, shutting them almost immediately. 'Oh don't worry pretty thing ,I'll wake you when I want to hear you scream' With Mozenrath protesting inside, the demon took Nefret to one of the cells and chained her to the wall. He traced her chin with a claw. 'I'll be back.' he whispered in promise.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chroias followed Anubis down the molds, crumbleing steps of the dungeon. He whined several times, his echo bouncing off the walls. He was worried about his mistress. Now it could be said that Anubis was not the smartest among dogs, but he didn't like the way that thing in the room had smelled. Anubis had decided that whatever it had been, it most certainly was not his mistress's master.  
  
Anubis poked his head around a corner and his whined turned frantic. He jerked at the chain and yipped as he saw what was inside on of the cells.  
  
Chroias followed the hound's gaze and gasped. Nefret was sitting there, chained to the wall, her head lolling, her mouth slightly open and her towel falling off on one corner. Terrified, Chroias let go of Anubis and began working on the door. "Open! Open damn you!" she screeched and finally tore the lock from it's steel trapping.  
  
Nefret moaned and opened her eyes as Chroias laid a hand on her cheek. "Roi...? What...what are you doing here?" she gave a pain filled moan again and slumped.  
  
"It's okay little sister, I'll get you out of here." Chroias sliced the chains off her with one swing. Nefret's figure was limp, almost lifeless, and Chroias could recognize the after effects of a mind warp on her. It was a favorite trick of male demons who didn't like resistance. She tested Nefret's body gently, having difficulty thanks to Anubis's frantic whimpers and jumping up to see if she was alright. Chroias sighed when she found that the demon had not been successful. Nefret was still whole as a person. Slowly, she moved her finger up to the neck to test for a pulse.  
  
And jerked her hand away with a horrible scream.  
  
The amulet of Hathor sat there, nestled comfortable on Nefret's chest, glowing in the darkness.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mozenrath kicked and screamed as his body twirled the staff comfortably in it's grip. The Beezlebub thing was calm now, delighted in it's own corruptive chaos. 'Damn you how can you do this? Mozenrath snarled. 'How?'  
  
The demon laughed. 'Your one to talk !how could you have taken a woman away from her homeland? /how could you have murdered the man who taught you? how could you have attacked Agrabah so many time? Did you know the sum of deaths you alone have caused there total to..."He named a sum that seemed impossible. 'You know where your headed when you die Mozenrath. The whole world knows it, and in that there is a small irony.'  
  
Mozenrath lifted his metaphysical head. 'What do you mean?'  
  
The demon considered, and told him .'For all those who claim you are evil ,you really aren't are you? It's all here in your head. You could have lead a better life, but rather by serendipity then by choice your path was steered down another road. It has a point, a method, but your damned none the less. And don't think I don't know about the sharks tooth!' it twirled the object in Mozenrath's hands. 'This only delays your progress to my realm. It will not stop it sorcerer.'  
  
Chapter 280 (by Nefret)  
  
Chroias lifted Nefret's arm over her own shoulder and hauled the girl to her feet, not that she could stand or support herself. The demon's mind whirled and her senses were on high alert, every mouse scamper and creak and crack of the old house fell into her ears like a jackhammer. Something was here, one of the worst of her own kind, something that even made HER dread death.  
  
The demoness stopped slightly and turned around in a circle, letting her senses test the air. It was near impossible to know where he was now, this thing. It was not that she was rearing to go and confront him, no that wasn't it, confronting it was something she had to do or else they weren't safe. Not until she knew where exactly he lay could she take Nef to the opposite end of the Citadel. The girl was already showing that she was not physically or rather mentally strong enough to face it. No mortal would be, and if there ever were one then that would consecrate a god on earth. But the question was, was this demon more powerful than her? She winced at the thought, at the thought of Mozenrath out there somewhere in danger with this thing on the loose, winced at the feel of Nef, now so weak and helpless in her arms, winced at the responsibility now breaking her shoulders.  
  
***  
  
The former body of Mozenrath sat on a little chair in some remote corner of the Citadel, a little pool of liquid on the ground, crimson and thick. A bit of blood that had been in storage in the lab, the giver unknown. Reflected in it was the image of the two girls as one dragged the other down the hall. "Congratulations on getting your wife and harem girl to get along so splendidly!" The demon jabbed the metaphysical form of the sorcerer. "And what better way for sisters to die than together?" It laughed and racked a claw across the circle of blood.  
  
Mozenrath watched with borrowed eyes the image like a man watching two lambs to the slaughter. He felt a mix of hatred and helplessness. He had almost completely lost control of his body and this thing was hell bent on blood. Worse yet he'd watch the slayer, have the blood soak his own hand. It was just like his strange daydreams.. He quickly jerked his thoughts away but was unable to take his eye away from the vision in the blood, it was the demon controlling those orbs now and he chose what they looked at and what they didn't. 'I will kill this body and both of us with it before you I let you hurt ONE hair on their heads!!" He raged inside himself.  
  
The thing laughed. 'you will join them in death soon enough. But even then I'll separate you. You are all destined for different places, can you not feel it? I'll scatter you to the winds never to united again." Lips pulled into a smile as the demon felt the utter anguish the thought brought to the man he possessed.  
  
*** Chroias set Nefret down on the throne in the throne room. It was with a morbid interest that she had always thought of this place as the best room to wage war. Large and roomy with sparse furnishings but enough columns and indents in the wall to secure bystanders and the wounded. It was like a stage for battle or a ballroom for the dance of death.  
  
Kneeling down by Nefret the demon woke her with a few light slaps to the cheeks. The plum head rolled up with a moan, she was becoming clearer every moment but still she was under the spell. "Nef. Come on Nef." Chroias encouraged. "Nef, you're going to have to do me a favor. I need this male demon brought out to light, out in the open." Chroias stood and popped a bundle of cotton in each of the ears. "You'll have to annoy him a bit I'm afraid, to get him out here. Be a thorn in his side. I need you to pray Nef, say your verses." She patted her shoulder, careful to avoid touching the amulet of Hathor. That's what had given her the idea, that thing had hurt her! And if Nefret's belief in her good goddess could hurt her best friend that it might annoy that bastered!  
  
Nefret was still slightly out of it, beyond the point of asking questions. So obedient to the order she dredged her prays from the back of her mind. "Come in peace, progress in joy, Your heart is sweetened by hearing prayers, Hathor the Great, Mistress of Iunet, The Eye of Ra, Mistress of Heaven, Sovereign of All the Gods." Nefret droned.  
  
To Chroias they were a just a bit of mosquito buzzing through the cotton balls, annoying but not life threatening. To the possessed Mozenrath however the reverberations of the words thought the Citadel was sheer aggravation. It growled and shifted uncomfortably as it watched Nef pray in reflection cast by the pool. Her amulet seemed to shine bright even in the dark room. The body of Mozenrath twitched, trying to ignore the effect. Finally with an angry growl it sat up and stormed down the hall.  
  
"Adoration to You, the Golden One, Mistress of Iunet, The August and Powerful One in the Sanctuary-of-the-August-One, The One who shines like gold in the Temple of-the-Sistrum, The Atenet in the Land of Atum." Nef was saying.  
  
Chapter 281 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath watched through his own eyes and heard the deep growl pushing through the demons resonating chamber. "What-is-that-noise?" It snarled and stood from the throne. It's massive head swerves up to the ceiling, around the walls and at the doors. He cocked his head, listening. "Praying!" It sounded almost insulted "Someone is praying."  
  
Mozenrath watched as they moved through the Citadel with a demons speed. Everything around him jerked and pivoted around as they turned corners and moved past pillars. "What's going on?" His head pivoted to one side and the moving stopped. Mozenrath suddenly felt like he was on all fours.  
  
The demon swerved its head from one side to the next, watching, listening, waiting. Mozenrath could no longer hear the prayer from his prison. Concentrating, he silenced himself and listened.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Come on Nefret!" Chroias helped her friend lift her head and sat her up. "Come on girl finish it." she sniffed the air. It was getting closer.  
  
Nefret opened her lips and talked slowly. "Hathor above..."she whispered and struggled to keep going. Her mind felt so clouded. Her body so cold. All she could feel was something warm pressing to her chest. She reached for it without thinking and felt the warm metal of her amulet heating her body slowly. Nefret continued to pray.  
  
Chroias listened and twitched her ears again and again. The faint scratch scratch of demon claws hinted at the walls.  
  
Chapter 182 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret's face twisted ever so slightly, what were those next few lines? Funny that she would forget seeing as how they had been drilled into her brain over a period of 10 years. The warmth from the amulet seemed to creep in her mind and unlock memoirs. "I adore Your Majesty with Your heart's desire. I invoke Your Image with the sacred texts, I exalt Your Ka to the height of heaven, I worship Your Image to the limits of the rays of the Aten."  
  
Chroias stiffened and her shoulders seemed to bristle in an almost animal like fashion, it was so close she could nearly taste it! Just outside the door, she could feel its rage growing as the verses picked up again.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"Ah, yes, there is again!" the demon growled and bared it's fangs. "How dare they use such devices here!" It roared and beat a fist against the door as a warning.  
  
Mozenrath strained his metaphysical ears to catch, closing his eyes to capture every word.  
  
The voice was low and monotone but by the words he guessed it as Nefret's "The Great Uraeus, the Mistress of the Great Sanctuary, Your beautiful face is satisfied with your beloved son, The King of Upper and Lower Egypt."  
  
The demon let out a holler that rattled the very rafters and the door seemed to burst forth on it's own accord. The massive head wheeled around to take in the scene with the snake yellow eyes. Both the demon and Mozenrath peered into the dim and dusty room. It was eerily peaceful, the shafts of light murky and the room lying still.  
  
The thing's eyes took one last quick scan and darted back to the figure in the chair, Nefret, slumped with very little noticeable life in her body. She droned on and on. "The King of upper and lower Egypt, Lord of the two Lands.."  
  
"Cursed wench! Cease that senseless racket NOW!" The bulky body took a few broad steps on thick legs to come to a rest in front of the chair with speed so quick Nefret didn't know what hit her. She was dangling in mid air without even realizing anything was yet in the room. The demon smiled sadistically when it had come to a stop, Nefret swinging mid air by the grip he had on her shoulder. "I told you I'd be back dear." It breathed out, it's breath like the mists of the most sweltering rainforest.  
  
Nefret's eyes showed only slight fear under the cloud of the massive aura the demon radiated. One word remained of her verses, "Eternally."  
  
The demon jeered as something burned his arm, a slight gold whips radiating from the amulet around her neck. With a rage filled roar the demon dug his nails into her shoulder as a grip and swung her lulling head to the hard marble of the wall.  
  
Inside his prison Mozenrath flinched and tried to look away from the impediment scene of Nefret's head smashing. 'No.' was all he could manage before the demon's scene of confusion washed over him. Just before Nefret's head made contact with the wall she had vanished in a plume of green smoke. The demon's clawed hand now lay empty.  
  
It swerved with lighting quick relaxes to look around, its neck muscles bulging as the room rolled over his gaze. But she was gone, and now there was another presence in the room, a tall slim demoness with emerald hair and blazing red eyes.  
  
Chroias huffed and flexed her fists, it had taken a quick spell to zap Nefret away like that, the magic was just now unweaving its spell from her form. Chroias's lips pulled into a feral grin at the demons look of rage and disappointment. "Not today will you spill blood here." Chroias's smile fell. "Now you will explain who you are or I will rip you to ribbons.  
  
Chapter 283 (by Chroias)  
  
The demon leaped into the air and disappeared into the shadow. "Find me find me little horns." he mocked and Chroias snarled. This game was fast making her lose her temper.  
  
Chroias watched all around her. Looking for any signs of the other demon. It was coming, she knew that. The click click of claws was growing steadier and steadier. She could hear the harsh, gratted breathing of a thing in pain. It didn't like the prayer. Which meant Nefret was in more danger then she was turning around and making sure Nefret was safe. Chroias touched her with her own green magic, giveing Nefret her protection.  
  
"Keep praying if you can." she whispered and Nefret, still half unconscious, nodded as best she could.  
  
Nefret mumbled the prayers as best she could manage.Her mind swirled as the Hathor amulet glowed brighter around her. She could hear a soft, comforting voice through the mists, a familiar voice. "Be strong priestess. I am here. Your faith is not without value" Nefret couldn't place the voice, but she knew it, she was positive she did.  
  
Mozenrath lurched inside the demons mind. 'I can not let you hurt them. They mean everything to me!' He struggled in his chains and launched himself against the metaphysical presence of the demon. He caught him off guard, nailing him to the ground. Mozenrath felt his body falling and realized he was going to be in severe pain when all this was over.  
  
Chroias saw the body hit the floor and pounced on it.  
  
The demon turned around and snarled at Mozenrath 'Stay out of my WAY!' he crashed his massive fist into Mozenrath's mind, probing deeper into the sorcerers memories. 'I will destroy you utterly for this fool. I am the spawn of the Christian evil! i will not be defected by a demon wanna-be and a harem slut!' he dug deep into Mozenrath's mind as the sorcerer jerked and convulsed on the floor. 'Scream! Scream you fool!' Mozenrath tried to keep his mouth shut as the demon tore open memories. Dreams he'd had. The dream with Distane and is violation, dreams of the fields and crops where he'd had peace for only a few second. And a dream he hadn't had in a long time. A dream...a dream where there was a woman he knew.  
  
Chroias put her hands around the neck and pointed her claw to the jugular vein. She dug in just to the point of cutting. "Who are you? What are you doing in my home?" she ordered and kneed the body in the stomach. "Whoa re you? I will not ask again!"  
  
The face looked up at her, speaking with a familiar voice. "Dearest, don't you recognize me?" The face shifted and turned, becoming lean and pale. It's lips becoming lush and familiar to her again. "My love."  
  
Chroias opened her mouth wide. "M...Mozenrath?"  
  
Chapter 284 (by Nefret)  
  
The face softened more and Mozenrath peered out at Chroias like a face in the mist of clouds. The demon became a bit weak, her grip loosing and time froze around their forms. Reality was setting for the demon, she could neither kill nor let Mozenrath go.. Despite knowing him she had seen what he had done while on the loose. Or had that really been him? What had happened?  
  
Though this stilled moment in time came a murmur, slight and female. It was growing warmer now, more forceful than forced. On endlessly into the dusky air went the hymns, the lamitations, and the prayers. Only broken by the human need to breath.  
  
Mozenrath's face seemed to melt away in agony as the raging beast forced it's way back to the surface. The lips twisted and opened in one forced sentence spoken in Mozenrath's own voice. "Run from me."  
  
Chroias was still a bit dazed as she was bucked off and skitted to the floor. The world seemed to spin as the demon whooshed about and into the shadows once more. The smell of brimstone was over taking the place. She had lost her will to fight, now knowing who her opponent really was. Slowly she edged backwards to Nefret, still reciting. Across the girl's chest, radiation from the amulet was a powder of gold dust, sparkling upon her breast. It wasn't from her...no it was some metaphysical sort of plasma.  
  
Now it must be said Chroias wasn't exactly an obedient lover, following her mans every word and whim, far from it. But for some reason Mozenrath's one request sounded so heartfelt she knew the reason behind it must be of grave consequence. Chroias griped Nefret in her arms and picked her up, slinging her over her shoulder in a less than dignified way. Jolted now Nefret stopped praying and the dust feel from her breast and into the folds of her top.  
  
"Demon! You want to play hide and seek?" She called into the darkness. A heavy breath came from the columns to the left. Chroias smile grew wicked. "Than find us." She whispered before fading out. Both girls popped  
  
From the darkness burst the form to swipe at them with heavy claws. Both girls phased out just before becoming ribbons. The body of Mozenrath rose up on its feet like a beast and let out a howl. Inside Mozenrath felt the light feeling of relief followed by the heavy feeling of dread. Now the hunt was on. The scent was in the air and the dye was cast.  
  
Chapter 285 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias tugged Nefret along with her. Now let it be known that she wouldn't have traded the minions friendship for anything in the world. But if they made it out of this alive, she was going to force that Egyptian into a diet!  
  
She ran past the rooms, her goal much more precious then anything held in there. This was something she couldn't handle on her own. She was no hero. This required someone with a purity neither she nor Nefret had. This required Aladdin.  
  
She couldn't use her magic without alerting the other demon to her whereabouts, but she could make it out to the stables and get her friends aboard a horse. She wasn't even sure if the hero would help. The treaty was signed true, but if Mozenrath could be eliminated...Chroias sighed, it was a chance she'd have to risk. She looked out the second story window. It wasn't that far a leap to the ground, but she'd have to get a good grip on her passenger.  
  
She woke Nefret enough to have the girl secure her arms tightly around her neck. Out of nowhere, Mepho leaped up into her face, meowing persuasively and bringing Anubis up behind him. "Ohh get off!" Chroias growled and jumped, followed by the two pets. Quickly she made her way to the stables, found a brown horse and flung Nefret across the back on the animal. She jumped on behind her and helped her kitten up around the animals neck. She looked down at the pharaoh hound licking his mistress's cheek and whining. "Can you keep up?"  
  
Anubis nodded and jumped around. He was ready now. The smell of this place disturbed him. Chroias couldn't help but smile. "You are a loyal mutt aren't you?" she kneed the horse and took off in a gallop, her destination set for Agrabah.  
  
* * *  
  
Mozenrath listened to his demon's howl. It was frustrated, angry at not being able to properly follow their trail. He laughed. 'Some all powerful demon! You can't even manage to find a harem girl and a lover!' he let the hatred ring out in his laughter, stinging the pride of his tormenter.  
  
"Shut up"  
  
Mozenrath felt himself backhanded and bit his mind back. It was fun to have found a soft center in this creature. He probed deeper into the flesh now that he had made the wound. 'Who are you anyways. Your not just another demon.'  
  
The demon nodded and sniffed the air. 'it matters not, but if you search for a name you can call me Satan.'  
  
'The evil of the Catholics and Christians?' Mozenrath considered. He's delta with multiple evils before, even his own which had not yet conquered fully. 'What were you doing inside and orb?'  
  
'Oh I don't STAY there! I simply inhabit the orb when it serves my purpose.'  
  
'Why bother? Why not just seek out your victims as you please?' he shouldn't have asked that question, but he couldn't help himself. It was the evil side of him wondering.  
  
'Clever .Trying to milk me for information. You'll get none sorcerer. Satan smiled grimly. He sniffed the air and turned around to a window. "Apparently your two young ladies are more loyal to each other then they are to you. Are they perhaps involved with one another?' Satan laughed heartily at his joke and breathed in deeply of their scent. "They seek to help you. Foolish foolish ones.' Satan leapt up on the window sill and watched in the direction they were headed. 'They walk towards a purer nature.'  
  
Mozenrath looked up through his eyes and frowned when he saw the direction they were headed in.  
  
Agrabah.  
  
Chapter 286 (by Nefret)  
  
The horse stormed over the sands in much a clank and clatter. Taking Nefret over the border of the kingdom was not much of a production as originally thought. Simply holding her tight as the horse ran though it was enough to break the electric tethers that shot out like a net to catch her. The only thing that could be said was that it was a good thing Nefret was still out of it and beyond the pain.  
  
Now flying over the tan sands Chroias's eyes were set dead on Agrabah. But despite her keen animal instincts to focus on one thing and one thing alone the demon could simply not completely forget the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. It clutched and churned and it's source was evident. She growled lowly at the amulet of Hathor around Nefret's neck. The Egyptian was of course ignorant as to the effect it had on her, and Nefret's faith had never weakened Chroias enough to inform her of it, but now. now every bit of strength was needed.  
  
The further they road the more coherent Nefret was getting. She was stirring slightly as her eyes open to find herself bent over a fast gaiting horse as she sands flew by, everyone in a while Anbuis made an appearance in her peripheral vision beside the dizzying whirl of wind and sand. Fidgeting she cursed and pulled herself into a sitting position, nearly kicking Chroias as she sung her leg over.  
  
Half glad Nef was making some sense now and annoyed at the near miss she punched her shoulder half heartedly and pointed to their destination.  
  
Nefret looked up sleepily and nodded, now becoming serious. "Yes. We need help. By Hathor we are in to deep."  
  
Chroias flinched. "We need help against our own." She sighed and kicked up the horse.  
  
****  
  
"Really how nice of you to play hide and seek with my girls." Mozenrath was dripping with sarcasm as the demon stalked the sands picking up the scent. He had found it quiet a pleasing task to annoy his tormenter to all ends. It was perhaps parallel to Nefret's love of taunting him. "Next we can play jacks and jump rope. You seem to like childish games."  
  
A roar echoed in his ears. "You just don't know when to quite do your sorcere!?" Satan raged and dug his claws into the sands. "Your only making me twice as mad. And that is so bad for your company." He grinned at Mozenrath's invisible flinch. His smile curled, wicked and knowing. "Found them." He whispered out, both in his head and into the air.  
  
Mozenrath groaned as they burst out into the night following the smell of horse, demon, and mortal.  
  
****  
  
The horse stopped outside the palace gates as Chroias dismounted to lead Nefret though the portal. While Nefret had been getting stronger she was now lapsing slowly again. A sign that the things was getting close again. It was if there was an invisible string between them, unraveling when stretched and tightening as the gap closed, pulling at Nefret mind.  
  
Aladdin was opening the front door, alerted no doubt by now that a demon was making her way through the city. In agrabah things traveled fast. His face was dark and he barley opened the door wide enough for his own head to go through. "What trouble are you in NOW?!" He sighed knowingly. They never came for a peaceful visit.  
  
"We have al little infestation problem at the citadel." Chroias whisked almost nonchalantly as she leaned again the door, swinging the reigns.  
  
Aladdin eyed her suspicialy and turned his gaze to the vacant look in Nefret's eyes. "And her?"  
  
Nefret rubbed her head and leaned against the houses neck. "You still owe me a favor remember hero?"  
  
Aladdin scoffed. "You used that up when you stole the sharks tooth!" Nef's face went blank, "Oh did I now?" She rolled her yes. "Because as I recall."  
  
She was unable to finish as a sudden racked was raised behind her. Anubis had gone from his playful self to a vicious beast. His lips were pulled back, drool dripping from his sharp points of his teeth, his nose wrinkled, and his hunched brow shaded his eyes. Every hair was on end along his bristled back and he stood hunched. It was a sight to strike fear in your heart. Growling and barking rampantly he stared into the black night behind them.  
  
Chapter 287 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret turned to look at her mutt. Anubis looked back at his mistress and growled angrily. He knew what was out there. And he knew what it could do. mepho sniffed the air and let out a wet cat meow before settling in Chroias arms. "Where are my children?" Chroias turned to the hero and asked.  
  
"Tris and Apepe are in Egypt at the moment. And Zak went off to an island with Domdi the moment Eden got back.." Aladdin shrugged and watched the horizon in the direction of the Land of the Black Sand. "What's wrong?"  
  
"More then you can know hero. Nefret needs medical attention and food. It staves off the weakness. You need to fortified your palace. Not just with guards either. If your Genies are around you might want to have them set up a magic barrier. Plus..." Chroias thought for a moment and winced."...you'll need items of your god. Your Quar'an...that sort of thing."  
  
Aladdin looked about and considered. "Chroias...Agrabah and the Land of the Black Sand have a treaty. Under that treaty I can offer you any assistance necessary. But that does not mean you can walk in and take over my palace." he set a straight face when he said it too. He wasn't trying to insult her. She was Mozenrath's wife...lover...whatever. But the fact remained. It had taken him long enough to learn what the battle of politics was not easily won.  
  
Chroias turned and looked back at him, trying not to lose her temper. "Hero...listen to me carefully...." She searched for an excuse, any excuse to get him to listen. And she got it. Jasmine turned the corner, coming to see what all the commotion was about, and held a baby no more then three months old in her arms. "Do you see you child hero? Right now she..."  
  
"He..."  
  
"He is in very real danger. As well as anyone in Agrabah. Protect your city hero." She grinned slightly. "That is what you do isn't it? Or have you become too good at playing Sultan?" she designed the comment to sting. And it worked.  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret sat in bed, looking out at the blue glowing barrier. They hadn't told Aladdin a few things. Like exactly who it was they were fighting, or why. But Chroias had explained that it was of demonic origin. And she had told them what they'd need to both respell it, and contain it.  
  
She looked around at all the holy items. Thankfully, any item would do. Gifts had been given to the royal treasury for years, some of them included artifacts with some significant higher meaning. All of those gods watching you should have made Chroias feel better, but it didn't.  
  
Nefret stirred from her bed. She knew the nurse would give birth to a cow but right now she needed to find her friend. She limped slightly over to the balcony and looked out into the garden. A dull blue light cast it's shadow over the foliage, giving it a majestic and beautiful appetence. No one was out there, not so much as a tree leave stirred. It was so peaceful.  
  
Something moved.  
  
Nefret ducked down, wincing at the pain in her leg as she did so. She peered through the curtains and watched the shadow move. It was like an animal! Stalking through the bushes. Waiting silently for prey. Her first thought was Mozenrath. Chroias HAD been kind enough to explain to her what was going on.  
  
She checked again. No. This shape was leaner, more female. A small amount of relief settled in Nefret's stomach. It was probably Chroias. Much as she loved that demon, she had to admit that there was a distinctive amount of creepiness to her. Sighing and standing up. Nefret watched as Chroias climbed up one of the walls to talk to a guard, and went back inside.  
  
Anubis sniffed the air and growled again. Placing his head on his mistress's chest and breathing his dog breath on her. Nef giggled and shoved her canine companion away as the door to her room opened. Surprisingly enough, it was Aladdin.  
  
He smiled warmly at her. "Hey. How are you doing?"  
  
A blush appeared on her cheeks for some reason. She slapped it away in her mind. "Oh just fine for someone who's been out cold for most of this adventure." she rubbed her head. "Congratulations on your baby."  
  
Aladdin's chest puffed with fatherly pride. "Yes. He's a strong, handsome child. I'm so proud of Jasmine. She's a good mother. She'll teach him as much as I can." he looked at Nefret and without a word being spoken, the moment between them became awkward.  
  
Nefret felt a warm chill rush up her back and tried to cancel it. NO! Married man, Don, not the right time. All these thought drifted into her mind in succession. She loved Don. At least she hoped it was love. But well...twenty years was a long, long time. Somehow, ever excuse she found NOT to ...there was a better excuse to. This WAS Arabia. And polygamy was a common practice. The only excuse that held up was the fact that this was NOT the right time.  
  
Who knew what was going through Aladdin's mind. Thankfully, the moment didn't last forever. Chroias walked in the doors. Rearranging her clothing lightly in a few places. Her eyes wandered over the room from the shadows of the doorway. As they landed on Nefret and Aladdin a small, satisfactory smile crossed her lips, and she stepped out into the light. "Glad to see your awake." she called out.  
  
"Yeah. Glad to BE awake." Nefret turned around and gasped.  
  
Aladdin looked around." What's the...?"another gasp.  
  
Chroias knew almost immediately what was wrong. She lifted her claw to her chin, and brushed off the trail of blood leaking from her open lips. Her red eyes glowed softly. "I'm sorry. But all the holy items around here didn't help the matter any. Plus..." her head swerved downward to her stomach for a moment, but jerked back up just a quickly. "...I'll need the extra strength for battle."  
  
Chapter 288 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret pulled the covers over her head with the long drawn out groan of "ewwww." Temporality out of the spotlight, Aladdin slipped out the door to inspect the damage. From under the covers came Nefret's jarring words, "My friend the leach."  
  
Chroias frowned for a moment then masked it with a grin. "I see your feeling better. Good enough to be eyeing Aladdin like a piece of meat."  
  
An indignant cry sounded as the covers were tossed away to reveal a very perturbed woman. Chroias jumped away with a laugh. "My my you are feeling better." She smacked Nef's rump as the girl turned over. "Up and Adam than. We need all the hands we can get, even yours puny mortal." She jibbed.  
  
Nefret grumbled but did as asked.  
  
****  
  
Aladdin was in the war room when the girls surfaced again. His eyes were dark as he meet them. Politely he let them sit down before beginning. "What exactly have you brought to my home?" He growled trying to remain diplomatic.  
  
Chroias chuckled. "Just a little pet that followed up home." She sounded off like a child.  
  
Aladdin was less than amused. He turned a commanding eye to Nefret. "What is it?" He spoke as one might to a servant then.  
  
Nefret looked away annoyed. "Something important enough not to kill, and something so dangerous it could destroy us all."  
  
Aladdin clenched his fists. "Riddles and games!!! That's all I can expect from you people."  
  
Both girls wondered at him. Aladdin had never been so... authoritarian before. Perhaps it was his sense of duty, his maturing, or maybe and most likely his fatherly instincts.  
  
"It is, Aladdin, an enemy in an ally." Nefret whispered. Aladdin's face visibly twisted in though, but before the grand revelation came the door burst open.  
  
In straggled a mussed looking guard, as if he'd been running for miles. "New on the front!" He panted hard. Aladdin signaled for him to go on. "We found something... Something. It's huge, a beast! Out on the edge of the barrier. Children, he as captured children. He calls over an over for his, 'lover and harem girl.'" The man finally took a breath.  
  
Aladdin's eyes narrowed. "There are no such people.." He stopped as both girls scooted back their chairs and stood. The hero's mouth stood agape and confused.  
  
"Well, let us not keep him waiting." Chroias breezed to Nefret.  
  
"No, by the seven Hathors, we have an appointment to keep." Nef confirmed.  
  
  
  
Chapter 289 (by Chroias)  
  
Aladdin felt a cringe in his stomach as the two girls headed out. It wasn't something he could explain. He just felt it. Not as much for Chroias, but rather for...He shook the thought quickly out of his head. No. He was a father now. Aladdin looked behind him at Jasmine. His wife, his lady. By Allah she was beautiful. His child pressed to her breast and feeding. Her eyes half lidded and her mouth croooing softly at her young one. He loved that woman and that baby. He'd do anything to protect them.  
  
Jasmine looked up at her husbands face. She smiled at him. She was a bit plumper now. Motherhood does that to you. But she still had her loveliness. The weight would come off. Jasmine had never been a foolish woman. She knew her husband in every shape and form, his moods ,his love, his sweetness and his anger. And she knew when his eyes wandered.  
  
There was nothing wrong with it. Jasmine had insisted that he waited. She wanted to make sure she'd given birth to a healthy child first. 'This is Arabia. And Aladdin is the sultan.' She reasoned with herself. And Nefret...Jasmines topped the though. No time to worry about it now.  
  
Aladdin walked over and patted his son's head. He smiled at his wife. "You know I love you both Jasmine." He said kissed her.  
  
Jasmine nodded and returned the kiss. "I know." If he meant her and the baby or her and Nefret, she couldn't tell.  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret walked along with Chroias. A small whimper erupted outside the barrier. Both women turned to look. There sat the demon. A child no older the ten held in one arm .His claw playing at the throat. His clawed foot tapped impatiently. "So here you are. "What took you so long?" he smiled with Mozenrath's face. "I missed you."  
  
Chroias snarled. "We got busy." she waited and walked closer to the barrier. "What do you want from us." she hissed and her eyes glowed red.  
  
The other demon walked a little closer, lifting the child by his scalp and keeping his claw close to the neck vein. His nose sniffed at the air. "You've just fed." he sniffed harder. "Still a little hungry demon?" he nicked the child and licked the blood off his finger. "I know I am."  
  
Chroias felt her blood boil. "Let my Mozenrath go..."her voice was just above the deadly whisper level. Her back was begging to arch again. her shoulder blade lengthening and the sharp tips of wings sprouting.  
  
The male demon laughed. "Ohh. I've gotten you angry have I." he dug his claw deeper into the Childs neck and the boy screamed. Almost immediately Chroias calmed down. Her wing tips disappeared again. "Better. Now. Remove the barrier."  
  
Before Chroias could make a move to do so, Nefret held her hand down. "No. We won't give you access to this city." she said defensively.  
  
The demon looked at her and pressed his claw a little deeper. "Slut! Gutter whore! Your in no position to bargain." he bared his fangs and looked at her in a vile way. "Just shut you mouth and keep it that way till I request you to speak."  
  
Nefret's cheeks burned bright red. "You listen to me you refuge from the flames...!"  
  
Chroias slapped a hand over Nef's mouth. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride, but now wasn't the time.  
  
"What is it you want demon?" She asked and tried to keep Nef from launching another verbal triad at him.  
  
His head cocked from side to side. His ears twitching and the face of Mozenrath fluttering across his features. His long finger pointed to them. "Just you two."  
  
Chroias looked at the terrified chid. he was nearly dead already. And she knew what would happen if he wasn't. By touch this child was damned. This demon had given the boy a cursed life. She could do nothing for him. "You'll have us. On one condition."  
  
The demon gave a mocking bow. "Anything you ask."  
  
She looked pityingly at the child. "Do not suffer him to damnation." she looked at the weeping face and tried her hardest not to take back her words.  
  
The male didn't even flinch. One slice, and the body fell. "Done." he kicked the corps aside. "Now. Open the barrier!"  
  
Chroias shook her head. "I will open it. But only by a certain amount. You will have one building in which to fight us in." her red eyes looked around. "That one." she pointed to a sturdy looking building. "Tomorrow. Be here when the sun sets."  
  
The demon looked and smiled. "I hope you can wait that long. Your Mozie isn't feeling very well." His features fluttered again and the anguished face of Mozenrath screamed by for an instant. Disappearing once again and letting return the mocking features of Satan.  
  
* * *  
  
"What was that all about?" Nefret yelled at Chroias as the green head bowed in thought.  
  
"We don't have long. Find as many holy men as you can. Fill the building with items. Anything that has a god attached to it. Only the good gods, not the evils. Holy water. We'll need that." she paced back and fourth. She traced her mind for more info." And well need someone of the Catholic faith. They know the ritual better then anyone."  
  
Nefret shook her head "Wait. Hold it Roi." She took her friend by the hand. "What are we going to do?"  
  
Chroias looked up, the candle light playing along her face, makeing her look older. "Nefret. Do you know what an exorcisms is?"  
  
Chapter 290 (by Nefret) Red eyes watched the sun peek over the time beaten hovels of Agrabah to cast it's rays over the now dead quiet mud brick building chosen as the battlegrounds.  
  
A heavy door banged open to revile a girl standing in the doorway, a serious look on her mocha face. "Ready." She voiced.  
  
Chroias nodded and turned away from the horizon to march passed the doors. Nefret felt the hairs on her neck bristle as the demon breezed passed her in a swift cold draft. She brushed it off and swung the doors shut.  
  
****  
  
The male demon rose off from his crouched position on the dune, silhouetted in the morning sky he winded the air and grinned. "It's time." He smoothed out the sand under his massive feet and dug in. "Time to destroy your life with your own two hands. Such fate you have, to always kill what you love. They sealed their fate just by knowing you." The muscles tensed. "Ready?"  
  
There was no time for Mozenrath to respond before everything sprung into action and the desert landscape passed and swerved in a blur, sand clouding up in back of them, and the sun finally raising itself fully into the wheeling sky. Dizziness overcame him and he lowed his head in reservation. "Allah forgive me."  
  
****  
  
"Ready for this little priestess?" Chroias inquired as she put an arm around the quaking shoulder of her friend. She herself felt an odd thrill run through her, bloody battle suited her instincts just fine.  
  
"No." Nefret answered honestly allowing her defensive to drop in the presence of her most trusted friend.  
  
"Good." She rallied Nefret with a little shake and popped cotton in her ears. "Can't stand the noise you know." She screamed a bit to loud not knowing her own voice through the cotton.  
  
****  
  
The thing formally known as Mozenrath appeared at the pockmarked doors of the run down building and sniffed them as one might smell a fine rose. "They're here. I'm only slightly surprised at their stupidity.. I mean devotion." He grinned and ran a loving hand over the door as he took in the smell.  
  
The ancient wood didn't put up much of a fight under the strong arm of Satan, Splitters flew and dust exploded within the compound. Overhead the demon noted the large vaulted ceiling of the long hallway. High windows jutted dusty beams of light over the pale walls as the compound echoed with the plud of his feet under the stone floor.  
  
It was with odd awe that Mozenrath took in the placid beauty of their battleground.  
  
"Come to me my little ones." Satan whispered into the dusky hallway. "I'm here for you my lambs." It was Mozenrath's voice that now echoed dully off the walls, issued from his own mouth but not his own mind.  
  
"So good of you to come." Chroias commented quietly as the sound of her feet clinked off the staircases at the end of the hallway, only a stone throw away. "We were so worried you miss the party."  
  
"Never." It whispered hideously  
  
"No, never. It is such an honor to meet a hell born of such high status." She gave a mock bow that only enticed rage. "We spent a late night preparing a little.. Parade for you." Chroias stepped away, making sure her earplugs were securely in place as the sound of feet heading down the stairs burst into the hallway.  
  
From the upper level descended a man in fine robes swaying back and forth in rhythmic verse as he cried out the Quoran. Not a step away followed a man bearing a long beard and curls cascading from his temples and over his ears. In his hand he held a scroll and a pointer, which he scrapped across the page as his voice rang out rough and jagged in the jilting Hebrew verses.  
  
Satan wheeled around to the door with was now blocked with a row of tall crosses. The male demon turned clumsily, in pain, desperate for a way out of the noise. Mozenrath felt his stomach clench and heave in a sick feeling.  
  
Flashing brilliant appeared the gold embroidered robes of a catholic priest, swinging smoky trails of incense into the air and mumbling Latin. In an endless procession came an African shaman, a bald Buddhist priest, a Shinto priest shaking a paper banner, an Indian woman dressed as Genish. The demon lulled his head and clutched his arms as he looked around. The holy men and women were gathering in rows along the walls, each coming down the stairs and marching down alternating sides of the corridor. With a deep pant that steamed the air Satan thrust his head to the steps to make out what was coming next through his blurry eyes.  
  
From the upper level came a peaceful looking woman in a brown robe whispering in gallic, a painted man calling in a high pitched wail, and making up the cows tail came a woman in a sheer linen slip dress, a black plaited wig on her head, multi colored beads hanging from her neck and in her hand a oval raddled. Shaking it with a pleasing tinkling sound she chanted and moved with her palms raised in a sign of reverence. Nefret.  
  
Satan swerved and lunged from left to right, covering his burning ears as his eyes rolled back. It hurt, oh god it hurt. Both sides of the hallway were now full of holy men and women, their voices raised, oddly complimenting each other in a great chorus round of prayers. Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Shinto, Druid, Shaman, Hindu, Egyptian, The religions of the world represented in such a small space. The sheer volume of faith in that single room rivaled the whole of the earth.  
  
Satan howled and Mozenrath, as well, cried from inside his shell as the voices cut into him. The demons back arched with a roar as a slash of water left a mark in his back, as bloody as if a whip had hit. "The power of Christ compels you." Came a strong male voice from behind him. From the direction of the Buddishts and Hindus came a cascade of offering flowers. They were tramples under the demons feet as he wheeled about nearly delirious, their scent putting an ache in his head. Satan screamed and clawed the ground before lunging blindly into the crowd. No one backed down; instead their voices rose higher forcing the demon to fall back with a roar just inches from their faces.  
  
The male demon fell to the center of the room and covered his ears trying to block them out. From out of the buzz he weeded out a failure voice, or maybe it was Mozenrath instinctively finding her voice and his thoughts transferred onto Satan. Whoever it was, they locked on and lifted a head held by heaving shoulder to its source. Satan eyes narrowed on Nefret, her eyes firmly planted on his form as she somberly motioned her outcast palms. In a natural place to be, Chroias was at her side fighting off her own sickness.  
  
Satan heaved and looked down with a gulp. Mozenrath felt the muscles summoning energy again as the head came up to stare at the girls through increasing tunnel vision. Through the blurring the sorcerer commented their image to memory. Chroias looking quite regal as she lifted her head high, ready to do a good battle. A true demon and aristocrat then. Nefret looked quite proper back in her old element, lavished in her original grace and clothing as a Priestess. They both were strangely beautiful that way, in their true form, as they were meant to be before he had made their acquaintance. "It is quiet appropriate..." He whispered in his own head before the world took to dizzying motion once again.  
  
Satan leapt through the crowd, pushing the pulsing sickness away and barreled into the girls. With weakening muscles, still strong as tens of men, Satan caught them and slammed them back into the solidness of the wall. The world seemed to go silent for a moment as they rebounded from the collision before the noise of the prayers continued to drain into their ears undaunted. A firm grip was around Chroias throat, pushing the nails in just under and behind her ears. Nefret felt her ribs ache as they bent under the pressure of the massive hand pushing her into the wall by her sternum. Both girls' bodies were threatening to break. The skin of Chroias neck wanting to split, and the bones of Nef's chest about to crack and send a sharp shard into the heart or lung.  
  
Satan panted heavily as she gazed at them. "All's I ever wanted was YOU!" he hissed. "You're all I ever wanted." Came the voice again, different now. It took in a deep. breath and let it out in a burst of steam. "You could not go quietly into the night. No never. But you will, then, join me in hell." The pressure increased on both girls as Nefret screamed in pain and Chroias let out a hiss  
  
Chapter 291 (Chroias) Chroias snarled against the male demons grip. His claw bit into their flesh and she could already see Nefret begging to turn blue. Her mind raced. Even with all the holy items he was still to strong. There had to be a way to stop it. Chroias lashed out with her clawed feet a few times, cutting into Satan's body. He yelped and let Mozenrath's face appear, an image of pain against her lovers features.  
  
Satan laughed. "You are a fool." he growled and smacked Chroias to the side. He lifted Nefret higher into the air. "Hummmm. But you..." he tickled under her chin. "You are just the kind of girl I could take home as a prize." His massive tongue slid out from between his lips and licked around the edges of her chin.  
  
The holy chants continued around them, sharp, soft whispers. Satan flinched for a moment. After all that's what they'd been instructed to do. No matter what happened, keep on chanting. He turned just a moment to snarl at them all, but these priests were made of sterner stuff, they bowed their heads to their faith and continued.  
  
Chroias whimpered as their faith became stronger. Her own skin hurt from this. It was fast becoming too much for her to handle. Still, Nefret was in that things clutches. She could have run, she had a clear shot at the door...but that wasn't something she would do. Standing up and spinning on one foot, she landed a solid kick to the back of Satan's knee. "Get your hands off my friend!" she snarled.  
  
Satan turned with the intention to fight and Chroias took a risk, seeing the closest priest, she grabbed the cross of his religion from his hands and pressed it to the demon's head. Both demons screamed and the smell of burnt flesh filled the room. Nefret fell to the ground and promptly dug her amulet into Satan's back. Steam rose from the flesh and the symbol began to sink in. The priests began to follow the girls example and pressed their items into the skin, the room filling with smoke and invading their noses.  
  
Finally. Chroias dropped the item she'd held and backed away, the closeness of the others making her severally uncomfortable. The priest picked up his item and pressed it to the monsters flesh. Satan screamed again and bowed, his huge body heaving and his nostrils expanding and contracting. He was weakening, but their job was far from over yet.  
  
Chroias forced herself to stand and hide her hand behind her back. "Alright." She took hold of one of the arms not covered by holy implements and pulled Satan over to a table. Their job was almost done. She helped Nefret up from the ground, rubbing her small wounds lightly and helping to steady her. Nefret smiled. "Well that was fun, what shall we do next?"  
  
Chroias smiled. "Next we finish this." she began to instruct the priests on where to stand. "Nefret is in charge now." she indicated Nefret and ignored the look of what-the-Hell-am-I-suppose-to-do look. "You will follow her instruction." she walked past her friend. "I'm sorry, but you can't imagine the pain I'm in right now." she clutched her stomach and her cheeks blew up for a moment like she was about to hurl pea green soup. She calmed herself and held up the holy mark on her hand. "I have to remove this somehow, it's like an infection."  
  
Nefret hugged her friend. "How am I supposed to do this?" she asked and Chroias smiled.  
  
"I'll be right outside the door. Just go with your instincts. "Chroias pulled away as the Hathor amulet touched her. "I am here, and so is she." The demon pointed to the glowing amulet and walked out of the room, leaving a rather confused Egyptian priestess behind.  
  
* * *  
  
As soon as she was out of sight, Chroias sat down and pulled out her own items. These were things no human was meant to see. The evil in them so beyond corrupt that it terrified most to insanity. Chroias pulled out a long rod with a red dragon wound about it, the ruby eye glowing angrily. Next she took out a small, unimpressive looking brown box with Greek marking on in and different little things flying around the sides. Then came a thins sheet of paper, the same color as human flesh and painted with red words in a long dead language. And finally, she pulled out a long, cydrical object with several spikes, all of which were tipped green.  
  
She lifted her hand with the holy mark on it an flinched at the marked flesh. Not even waiting, she drove the spiked object through her palm. Dark blood fell to the floor as she pulled it back out and laid it on top of the human skin parchment. The words soaked up the blood, literally! The glowed with fever as Chroias began to recite the demonic literature. She opened the box slightly, enough to let out a sprite and grab it before it flew away. The thing was a dark green color, with gold eyes and the word Greed tattooed across it's head in Greek. Chroias bit off it's head and let it's blood mix with hers as she continued the ritual. The sprites blood poured over her own, slowly sinking into the flesh and melding it together. Chroias watched as it sank in and muttered phrases once again in the forgotten language of old. She spoke these words until the sprites blood glowed a bright and vibrant blue. Then, she picked up the dragon rod and waved it over her wounds, healing then by banishing the holy symbol with unholy ones.  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret looked on as Satan struggled on the table, his flesh bubbled and his face switch from Mozenrath's and back again and again. She saw those almond eye look up at her. The eyes that had imprisoned her, those eyes that had made her from priestess to servant, the eyes that had gone from harsh and cruel at his enemies, to soft and caring for his lover and children, to those warm and loving eyes for his friends. Nefret saw them change again to the angry, seeing hatred eyes of Satan. This Satan was not of her religion. She had no real knowledge of him, how was she supposed to know how to defeat him? "What has that damn demoness gotten me into?" she tried to think hard. What would be the best way to go with this.  
  
Slowly an idea came to her. She began to position the priests at the four corners of the table, one at each corner and taking the rest and placing them at what seemed to be the best corners and spots for them. Now she tried to remember what she'd read and glimpsed from different magical texts her master had sent her after. For a proper exorcism, she needed an outlet, something for the evil to travel into after being extracted from the host body. Carefully she looked around. Nothing was present, save for herself and the priests. Nef fingered her amulet, letting it's warmth bring her comfort. A small furry body rubbed against her leg and she smiled down at Mepho. "Shouldn't you be with your mistress?" she asked and the kitten only meowed. How long he'd been standing there she had no idea, but now one came to her. "Mepho, can you help me?"  
  
The kitten looked up at the Satan on the table and gave a small grolwish meow. He could help.  
  
Nefret took off her amulet and placed it onto Mepho's neck. The tiny kitten meowed and pawed it for a second. Nefret felt extraordinarily proud of herself. The kitten made a perfect outlet, the amulet would protect the evil from inhabiting his body and taking control, but would keep it contained inside like a drink of water in a bottle.. She looked at Mepho, the kitten seemed to know exactly what she was up to and even meowed as Nefret set up for the next section of the exorcism.  
  
Chapter 292 (by Nefret) Nefret took in a deep breath and placed the kitten at the end of the hallway, in a space void of all holy implements and anything a demon might find repulsive. She of course felt a bit guilty for using such an animal, in Egypt she would be put to death is she brought harm to the sacred animal. Yet, it must be said, Mepho was an extraordinary cat, and sometimes seemed a bit more than a dumb animal. Still if she hurt him she'd feel worthy of the chopping block, and if Mozenrath was killed due to her hesitation she wouldn't even feel worthy of that quick death. This was the lesser evil it seemed. And sometimes the choice of evils was the only option.  
  
Nefret took a firm stance at the head of the table, placing her palms on the beast's temples. It looked up at her in pain and malice. "Take your hands from me Priestess!" it hissed horridly in her face. "Take your..." the thing than preceded to call out horrid names and implying curses that would make a street walker blush. Things that under normal circumstances would set Nef off the deep end. Yet this time she took it with a grain of salt and pressed her hands firmly to his head, instructing the others to place their own hands on any square inch of flesh available to them.  
  
"Laudations to my Mistress" She began, her tone set and serious as the other voices joined hers around the table.  
  
"Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.."  
  
"Allah is good Allah is great, there is no other god than God."  
  
"A-shi-ra la-do-nai ki ga-oh ga-ah"  
  
"I called to her, she heard my plea."  
  
"They Kingdom come, they will be done on earth as in heaven.."  
  
"Inshas Allah, Insha Allah.."  
  
"Mi-cha-mo-cha ba-elim adonai"  
  
"She came by herself to see me."  
  
"Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."  
  
"I made devotions to my Goddess."  
  
"Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil."  
  
"That she gave me my Brother as gift."  
  
"For thine is the Kingdome and the power and the glory forever amen."  
  
The Beast roared and twisted in sheer agony. The flesh beneath the pious palms was turning hot and liquidly. A discussing sight, but none would give up the ghost. Not now, not as long as breathe was held in their lungs.  
  
Satan's eyes rolled and from his mouth issued strange and ungodly noises. From between his lips came a thousand different voices, male and female, old and young, some of a native and some of a foreign tongue. Those to be understood screeched hideous insults at the priests, their mothers, their fathers, their virtue. Things that had no right to be said, words that could shake even the most hardened heart. The voice of Nefret's father, her mother, Lucas.. But none were real, none of them could be. It was all a ruse. Oh The Beast was a crafty one. The holy ones shut their ears to it and voiced their voices louder.  
  
"I'm here!" Broke a yell over the clamor of disjointed voices, it was so commanding the other seemed to ebb in comparison. Nef looked down into the beast's eyes, now almond shaped, dark and soft. "Nef." The lids closed and opened again less soft. "Do as you must. I wont allow myself to hurt Chroias and you. Do as you must." The lids closed again and did not open.  
  
A chant was starting around the room, by everyone present, christen or no. Nefret accepted her orders and closed her eyes, nearly screaming along. "The power of Christ compels you, the power of Christ compels you.." The verse rang over and over again as they become more furious and full of meaning. Everyone's eyes cracked open as the bulky form beneath them rose to press against their palms.  
  
Slowly they slid their hands away as the beast rose off the table and into the air, back arched and limbs bent and spread as if pulled straight into the air by it's back bone. The whites of its eyes showed hideously and it's mouth opened in a growl, something between the croaking of crocodile and the long moan of a man in pain. The priests joined hands and screamed at the top of their lungs. "The power of Christ compels you!"  
  
Flames over came the hovering form, white hot and reeking of sulfur. The inferno darted then, around the room, narrowly missing the priests, repelling away from anything slightly religious as the chant continued. A loud meow rose out of the fires as it hit the corner of the room and pushed into the flesh of Mepho. The cat's head arched up as if taking a deep breath before coming back down in a look of complete calm and control.  
  
Nef had little time to celebrate the health of the cat as from overhead a slim, pale, and badly battered body fell onto the table. She was at its side instantly.  
  
Mozenrath seemed bruised and burned, thin and gauntly, weak and worn out. He lay there, sprawled over the tabletop, as venerable as a newborn. His full lips were a dangerous shade of blue and his flesh clammy and cold, the pallor of the grave. Nef grabbed a robe from a priest and wrapped him in it, running a quick hand over his arms in an attempt to get the circulation going.  
  
"Come on back Moze, come on. Wake up." She encouraged and slapped his cheeks. "Don't play games with me damn it!" She was lapsing into anger now. Everyone got down on one knee and the muttering began again. "Please.." Her voice bounced whisperingly off the crumbling walls. "Wake up. Come back.."  
  
**  
  
Chroias lay panting slightly in the street behind the building, the instruments stroon out in front of her. She was feeling slightly better now, but still sick as a dog. Proud as anything came the kitten through the back door and prancing high. Almost as soon as it got within arms reach Chroias could tell what it held within it. She smiled faintly, and took the cat into her arms, careful to avoid the amulet. "So it is done now." She whispered, pushing the sickness away. "How much has been done?" She whispered, not wanting an answer as she pulled her strength up again.  
  
Chapter 293 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret sat Moze up as best she could. His lips sagged to the point a child's would when they were about to cry. She watched as small tears came from Moze's closed eyes and he moaned. he was alive. Badly hurt, unconscious, bedraggled, and in pain, but alive.  
  
Nef hugged his body close to hers. "Oh thank you Hathor." she whispered  
  
'Your welcome'  
  
Nefret shook her head for a moment. The warm feeling against her breasts brought her head down as the glowing in her amulet slowly faded away. She looked at the amulet, stunned for a moment, and then grinned slightly. If only her friends back at the temple could see this.  
  
Mepho meowed slightly. He stumbled over to Nefret and rubbed against her leg, puuuring gently. Nefret scooped up the kitten. "OHHH You sweet, fantastic, magical little thing you!" she kissed Meohp's nose and the kitten slashed at her half heartedly. Mepho already knew he was perfect, he didn't need her to tell him that!  
  
Mozenrath stirred on the table. His eyes fluttered open and he looked hazily up. "Roi?" he whispered  
  
Nef shook her head. "No. Not yet. Relax. Lie back down." she pushed him back down into the table. "I'll go get her."  
  
Moze started to argue for a moment, but felt the swelling of his head and didn't. Only grumbled and obeyed.  
  
Nefret took a few minuets to push all of the Priests and Priestesses out of the building. She thanked them for their help, payed them the fee promised, and waited till she saw them exit down the streets of Agrabah. She walked back over to Moze, putting an ice pack on his still burning forehead and kissed his cheek once, rushing down to find Roi.  
  
Her friend groaned, leaning against the wall of the building. Her mark was gone, but she didn't look like she felt all that good. "Is it finished?" she looked up and Nefret nodded. "I want to see him." she started to rise, but her legs sank out from underneath her.  
  
Nefret leaned forward and started to help her friend up. Chroias looked up at her and frowned. "You don't look so good yourself." And it was true. Considering the specific company she had just relived them of, Nef looked like HELL warmed over. her hair was tangled and smudged with a thick slime that had come from who-knows-where, her eyes had huge bags under them from lack of sleep. She hadn't eaten in about two or three days and her body was covered in dirt. Even her priestess robes had a few moth eaten holes in them.  
  
Nef looked down at herself and grinned. "I guess I don't look too good do I?"  
  
Chroias laughed as they walked up the stair. If the demoness had been weak before, she certainly wasn't now. The moment she saw her lover lying on the table, brused and beaten, her legs found strength and she rushed over to him. Her claws touched him with feather light grace as she roamed his body, assessing the damnage. "He's alive. Just barely." she kissed him." We always do manage to come out of these things just barely don't we lover." a small smile crossed her face.  
  
Nefret helped her lift mozenrath up. "I'm taking him back to the Citadel." she heaved Moze into her arms.  
  
Nef laughed. "Hey come on. What are ya telling me for?"  
  
Chroias looked back at her friend. "Because your staying here for a few days."  
  
Nef looked at her, shocked. "but...umm. you'll need help with Moze and...."  
  
Chroias looked back at her friend and smiled. "No.I'll make it just fine. He needs to be bathed and fed. And have a little good old fashioned TLC." Nef pretended to gag. "We both just need some rest and relaxation. Go to the palace Nef. You can stay until Moze is well enough to come and get you. I dare say he won't be to happy when he wakes up."  
  
* * *  
  
Aladdin for one looked surprised when Nefret showed up at the palace again just as the sun was setting. She still looked like Hell, but didn't have the heart to turn her away. "Sorry." she grinned. "Just got finished raising a little Hell."  
  
Chapter 294 (by Nefret)  
  
Mozenrath had been bathed, dressed in a galybeeya, and a few bowls of broth and grit like substances poured down his throat. He was most uncooperative for most if it. Lying lax and uncaring, in his own world. But it had gotten done and now there was nothing to do but wait for him to come out of it.  
  
That moment came later that night, just as the sun was setting in the western sky, casting dingy orange shafts of light through the bedroom window. Slowly his gloved hand came up to rub his forehead as he propped himself on an elbow, swaying lightly. Every muscle twinged in complain of the movement and his skin ached with a thousand tiny cuts; but, hell, he was lucky if you consisted what he'd been through. hell.  
  
Chroias dropped her book and sat gingerly on the bed as not to set off any jolts. Moze looked to her, and softened. "There's my girl." He whispered.  
  
Chroias's grin broadened and her eyes crinkled in an adoring gaze. "Here I am. And we're all in once piece." Oh so carefully she brushed the scraps across his face.  
  
Mozenrath's face twisted slightly, the images he'd seen through demon eyes coming back to him. The pain he'd put her though, that he'd inflicted with his own hand even he fought all the way to keep those hands off her. "Are you. okay?"  
  
Chroias stood up and rotated around. She too had gotten a bath and tended to what wounds she had. In comparison to Moze she looked in perfect health. "Not a scratch." She exaggerated.  
  
Moze smiled with a snort and lay his head back down in thought. Chroias lovingly stroked back his hair, the silence between them, comfortable and meaningful. The sorcerer hummed, a few long moments later, and turned his head to the side, to the door. It had taken him a while but he had finally noticed the distinct absence of his minion. He didn't really remember much after the exorcism had picked up pace, But he could remember doing some pretty horrid things to her. Was she angry with him.. Scared of him.hiding... hurt.. worse?  
  
Moze bit his lip and looked back to Chroias. "Where is Nefret?"  
  
Chroias smiled at the fear in his eyes. "Safe and sound. a few miles away" She got up to fiddle with some cool water to bath his brow. "I decided to leave her at the palace for a while." She came back to sponge off his face. "To give us a break. And cause I know you hate to be weak around her, to let her see your still human. I know you wouldn't want her here while you recuperated."  
  
Moze smiled and caught her hand. "Good idea." **** Speak of the devil, Nefret was also freshly bathed and fed, taking both the bath and a meal at the same time. It was really quiet a luxury to feast and soak at the same time. Now she sat at her dressing table.. Staring at the Amulet she had laid down by the perfume bottles. Whatever it had been before, it was nothing now. Just a cool peace of bronze.  
  
A knock came at the door and Aladdin stepped in. "You weren't at dinner." He explained.  
  
Nefret laughed and stood. "I combined bath and meal at once." She giggled as Al gave her an incredulous look.  
  
"I seeeee." He smiled to and sat on a near by lounger. "SO.. Is er. your other two friends ok? Where did they run off to?"  
  
"Chroias and Mozenrath are fine, or should be. Hathor knows we've gotten through all the fates have thrown at us. They've gone home."  
  
"And you've not gone.. 'home?'"  
  
"No, quite sorry for the incontinence." Nef huffed as Al gave her the I-didn't-mean-it-that-way look. "Chroias thought it would be easier for Mozey boy to get some rest without the crazy minion running around." Nefret scowled, but Aladdin's laugh absorbed her anger. They laughed and then grew silent, not entirely uncomfortably. "Funny." Nef finally broke in. Al looked up. "We keep fighting outer demons when what we really need to face is our inner ones." She smiled philosophically.  
  
"Intelligent for an evil little minion." Al jabbed.  
  
Nef's eyes grew wide and an indignant cry sounded. For Mozenrath to called her "little minion" was one thing, that was a sort of epithet. For Al to use it was a sheer insult of her station.  
  
"I'll show you street rat!!" She cried and the laugher rang as the pillows flew.  
  
Chapter 295 (by Chroias. It's her fault. Damn her!)  
  
Aladdin laughed as the pillow whapped him over the head. He lost his balance and toppled over a chair, looking desperately about for anything to defend himself with. Nefret advanced on the hero. "Allright! One point for the evil minion!" she raised the pillow to whap him with it again.  
  
Aladdin grabbed one of the pillows from the bed and blacked the shot. "Ohho! so you like to beat up on defenseless Sultans' humm?" He reached around and jerked the rug Nefret was standing on, causing her to slip and fall between the soft sheets of the bed.  
  
Nefret screeched and sat up, flinging the pillow down onto of Aladdin's head. "Ha HA HA!" she punctuated each laugh with a smack. Aladdin fought back, throwing the pillow against her sides and grabbing covers to slip her up. Nefret yelled as he tugged the covers out from underneath her and switched her hands, grabbing the ones Al was standing on thanks to all the fumbling and yanking, hoping he would fall back.  
  
Unfortunately, this had a somewhat opposite effect. Aladdin fell forward, crashing into Nefret and onto the bed. Both of them cracked up laughing at the same moment. Half way due to actual elation, the other half to the awkwardness of the situation. Nefret suddenly became very aware of the fact that she was still slightly damp from bathing...and still wearing her robe that only came mid-way down her thighs.  
  
Aladdin saw her blush rise on her cheeks and felt his own face truing bright pink. "I've never seen you blush before..."he murmured softly.  
  
It was hard to determine what happened next. If you were to go back and think about it you couldn't have told who started it. All Nefret knew was that his lips were touching hers, and hers were touching his. And the satin sheets felt so nice against her skin...  
  
She could feel her mind screaming out again. A million excuses not to. She could stop this so easily. All she had to do was hold up a hand, cough, make some motion to disturbed what was happening. So why wasn't she...  
  
Aladdin's mind followed the same path. He was sure he had kissed her, or had he? Maybe she had leaned up a little towards his, maybe not...What was he doing? What was she doing? All he had to do was sit up to stop it, but then what? How was he going to explain this sudden kiss to her? His eyes suddenly seemed to realize that the top of her robe wasn't tied tight enough.  
  
Nefret felt his arms wrap around hers. His arms were stronger then she was used too. Even Don's arm's were well build..."Don..." her mind attempted, but something else in her shut it out.  
  
* * *  
  
Moze tugged gently at Chroias's skirt. "Come on..."  
  
Chroias shook her head firmly. "No Moze."  
  
"But I feel all better now. I PROMISE!" He inhaled strongly and choked. "See *gag* Much better..."  
  
Chroias giggled, but shook her head firmly. "No! You are still recuperating. You need food, baths, and REST!"  
  
Mozenrath scoweled. "But how can I rest if your not here beside me?" he pouted, much like a child. In truth, yes he wanted Chroias beside him right now, but he was also enjoying the grand service she was giving him. Breakfast in bed, sleeping as long as he wanted, and her bathing him of course... But the only way to keep that going was to act sick and frail. And that went against his pride. "Roi...baby." he grabbed her arm and swung her into bed with him. "Come on... just a little something to keep my muscles working..."  
  
The temptation was grand, but Chroias shook her head and slipped from his grip. "No. Not until I"VE decided your ready."  
  
Moze grumbled. "And when will that be?"  
  
Chroias looked him over. He still didn't look very good. His body was bruised in several places and he looked slightly green around his neck. His eyes still had dark circles under them and a scar or two marked his body. "When your healed." she settled in beside him and let a little of her magic flow into her fingertips. "Now relax, and let me work." she placed her fingers to his temples and began to sooth his mind.  
  
Mozenrath resisted at first, feeling like a child being rocked to sleep by his mother. He could tell when Chroias was using her sleep spell on him. But it was a powerful one. The pillows suddenly seemed so soft and inviting, the sheets were cool and crisp against his battered flesh. Even the mattress under him felt unbelievable wonderful.  
  
Chroias waited till his eyes shut and his chest began to rise and fall steadily before taking her fingers away. "Sleep well love." she kissed his lips and slipped into the bed beside him, twisting her tail around his back and her arms around his shoulders. It was going to take all night, and a lot of her healing energy, but she intended to cure as much of him as possible.  
  
As her body melded little by little with his, she wondered how Nefret was doing in Agrabah. She smiled, happy that she had found the perfect excuse to leave here there for a few days. Even she could feel the loneliness welling up inside her friends heart. And yes, it might only be for a few nights, a week at the most, but still, every body needs some body sometimes.  
  
Chapter 296 (by Nefret)  
  
The sun rose orangey pink in the sky. It was ungodly early but Nefret had already been up and about for an hour now. Easily she had sunk into habits she hadn't indulged in for over 2 years, rituality bathing in the palace pool. Wrapped in a simples linen slip dress she dunked herself several times before stepping out to get dressed and anoint herself with oil. Stepping out on the balcony she knelt on one knee and raised her palms outward. And so the prayers began. Prays for Mozenrath, thanks to the goddess for his safety, asking for his health, praying for Chroias, thanking for such a good friend, asking for help with what Nefret felt in her gut was coming, and maybe just maybe a bit a guidance for herself.  
  
Nefret walked strangely now, no longer did she plot along with her mind on sarcastic comments and what nasty things she say to Mozenrath next. No longer could you see the walls she put up around herself, or the mischief in her eyes. She was clam now, cool and graceful as she moved though the halls, hands clasped behind her and, in her down cast head, eyes cool and clear as she thought. No longer was she a spirit a fire, no, for right now she was the perfection of grace. A priestess.  
  
Most of the day she spent outside the place, hovering around in the marketplace, sipping drinks in the open-air café, milling around with the other women, mindless banter with venders and traders. Anything to stop from thinking. What happened last night would never be known, not by anyone muhahahahahahaha.  
  
Nefret coughed and watched as a group of old men played hounds and jackals on a near by table in the coffee shop. Chuckling a bit she stood and moved to the table, tossing in her bet. After a few winning "guesses" they invited her to play. Quite an honor, the fools.  
  
With a hefty bag of winnings pulling at her side Nefret walked the market place, looking for just the right item to purchase. Mozenrath's birthday was coming up soon, and this could quite possibly be the only time between there and then that she'd be alone, in a market place, and with money. Mise well get it over with now. Despite his recent episode, and how badly he had caused her to be beat up, she wasn't going to allow him to put her on a guilt trip for not getting him a birthday present. Oh no, not this little minion.  
  
*** Mozenrath waited till Chroias was out of the room before flinging off the cover and slowly placing his feet on the cold floor and, with a deep breath, pushed himself to a standing position. He stayed still for a moment before teetering forward, grabbing onto a chair back to steady himself and getting the coordination to walk out of the room, guiding himself with the wall.  
  
For Allah's sake he felt like a rag doll! His muscles had relied so long on the demonic energy provided to him that now, no their own, they felt frail. But by god he was determined to prove himself. ready.  
  
Chroias of course knew what he was doing, but she wouldn't intervene. He was bound and determined to do it on his own and that's what she wanted.  
  
Chapter 297 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath massaged his temples as he entered the palace throne room. "Maybe I should have listened to Chroias and waited a few days." he groaned and walked forward as the servants scattered. Even WITH the peace treat his presence commanded a certain amount of...respect. He couldn't help but grin as he watched them flurry away and gossip with the other servants. It felt good to know that he was still a feared man. he straightened up despite his aching joints and migraine and strutted up to the throne where Aladdin sat. Jasmine was there beside him, looking on calmly as he approached.  
  
"Moze..."Aladdin started. He felt a little nervous actually. After all, with everything that had happened last night between him and Nefret...Mozenrath wouldn't have come to seek vengeance would he? Not for a servant. He once again considered the possibility that maybe Nefret's relationship was something closer to him. But no. She would have told him if that were true...wouldn't she?  
  
Mozenrath stood up straight and grimaced that special grimace he saved always for the street rat. "Al...buddy. I've come for my little minion." he noticed Aladdin stiffen in his seat. He wasn't the only one, it appeared Jasmine had caught the movement too.  
  
Aladdin was torn. On one hand, Nefret was legitimately Mozenrath's property. He had perfectly legal claim to her. And as Sultan there was an amount of respect he had to give that. On the other hand, last night... It complicated the situation. He controlled himself as best he could. "She's out somewhere in the market place. Probably shopping." he tried a grin. "You know women."  
  
Moze's disposition became worse. "Yes I do..." he strode away, never once bothering with a proper bow or salaam towards the 'Sultan'. This whole situation tasted sour in his mouth. First off, leavening Nef over in Agrabah was a bad idea. True he had been in terrible condition, but that was exactly why he had wanted Nefret there. Someone to vent on! Next there was the hesitation Aladdin had shown. Something was going on. Was Nefret planning to betray him? Had he done something THAT horrible to her while trapped by the demon presence?  
  
* * *  
  
Aladdin watched Mozenrath leave. The servants scurried about once again, like the lifting of the sorcerers presence had allowed their legs to begin movement again. The sorcerer disappeared in his usual manner, silent and creepy, which made him even more nervous.  
  
Jasmine's hand suddenly covered his own. "Aladdin..."her soft brown eyes looked up at him persuasively. "Aladdin my love is there something you want to tell me?"  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret munched on the pastry in her hands and wandered about. She still haven't chosen a bobble for Moze's birthday, but she had a few ideas. The decorative creations that hug from the stalls caught her attention like a shiny earring does a parrot, but nothing she'd really wanted to purchase. She poked her nose into a raggedy looking shop with several curiosities hanging around. Grinning, Nef walked inside.  
  
* * *  
  
Mozenrath turned the corner just as the end of Nefret's skirt disappeared into the shop. He missed it though while looking at a pair of earrings. Each on was prismatical. A large prism with several smaller ones confined inside of it. Moze felt temptation creep up on him and bought the pair. Even if Chroias was going to be mad at him for leavening before she considered him healthy enough, these would help to smooth things over.  
  
As his mind wandered he recalled what exactly he had done to Nefret as a demon. It had been horrid. As the feeling of guilt crept up on him he recalled the look on Nefret's face when he popped up behind her in the bathroom. Immediately he burst out laughing. Her eyes had been so big they nearly popped out of her head! It took a lot of control for him to wipe the smile from his face, but Mozenrath picked up a pair of small gold earrings with the symbol of Hathor unscripted on them. If nothing else, Nefret would appreciate these. And he could just leave them on her dresser, with no word as to who had given them to her.  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret poked her nose around some of the more curious objects. Boxes with DO NOT TOUCH written in Farsi, old manuscripts with spells copied down. Nef snickered. Mozenrath had stuff a thousand times better then this. Evil, yes. Cheap, never! She considered. A few animals were stuffed into cages which were way to small for them and looked out at her with pleading eyes. Nef felt her big ol heart swell up at the sight of them.  
  
An idea came to her. Moze needed a new familiar anyhow! She had Anubis, Chroias had Mepho, who did Moze have? She trailed her fingers along the cages, looking from one to the next. She was pretty sure Moze had no interest in something as common as a kitty or puppy. And she spied the monkey and parrot the evil temptation popped up in her mind to buy him one, but no. He'd want something much more specific.  
  
A sudden gibbering caught her attention. Nefret turned around and tried to figure out where it was coming from. A movement caught her eyes and she directed her attention to a small red and blue box with strange designs on it. She lifted out a finger to touch it and the box jerked about, wild, ferel noises erupting from the inside.  
  
"Very expensive!"  
  
Nefret looked around as an old woman emerged from behind a door. "Very very expensive." she grinned and the huge gape between her teeth was made obvious. Nefret knew she was being judged. This woman had a keen eye for customers who did and didn't have money. Depending on which she took them for meant what kind of merchandise she would show them. "Maybe more expensive then you can afford..."  
  
Nefret held up some of her winnings and a gleam of greed lit up in the old woman's eye. "But perhaps we can do business!" she swiped the earnings from Nefret and inspected the quality of her coin. "Umhum." she picked up the box. "A rare and exotic creature from lands unknown." she promised and opened the box enough for two huge black eyes to stare out at Nefret. A long blue arm pushed out and the woman slammed the box shut, causing the thing to screech." 700 denari"  
  
Nefret chewed her bottom lip. True, she hadn't seen anything like it before, but then again she hadn't seen much of it."560 denari"  
  
The old hag thought for a moment."690"  
  
Nefret chuckled. "You probably grabbed some mangy alley cat off the street and illusion it up!" she insulted. "600 denari"  
  
The old woman stammered but regained herself. "675! And that's my final offer!"  
  
Nefret considered. " 640 and a bottle of perfume from Egypt!" she held put her bottle of perfume and sprayed a little bit of it.  
  
The old woman nodded. Anything from Egypt tended to attract a lot of attention and sell for a high price. "Sold." she took her money and the perfume and handed Nefret the animal.  
  
Nefret scoffed. Truly she had gotten the better end of the bargin. After all, she had ten bottles of that same stuff at home! "Well, an absolute pleasure doing business with you." she picked up the box and walked out the door.  
  
"The pleasure was all mine." the old woman promised and turned away with a chuckle.  
  
Chapter 298 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret walked the street, the box firmly positioned under her arm. Now it must be said Nef was no fool in the gaming business, many a late night did she spend sitting up playing with the priests. So even after her purchase she held a good sum of money still in her change purse. After a few pasties and some luxury bath items she found herself with just enough to buy a cold drink to wash down the sweets.  
  
With a heavy sigh she plunked down at the town well and pulled up her feet to sit for a spell. The box set beside her, oddly still, that is until she poked it and it fell back into ferial cries and jumbling movements. "Well this aught to be fun." She popped the lid open to peek ink inside. From the darkness popped a clawed finger that nearly jabbed out her eye. Nefret cursed and slammed the lid closed. "By Hathor it's a deformed cawala bear!" She huffed. From the box issued an 'ohhh' sound.  
  
"There you are!" Came a voice, sending Nefret in a scurry to shove the box in her bag. Mozenrath was striding fast up the street, stepping full but careful. Nefret smiled, ah so the half dead walked. "I've been looking damn near everywhere for you." He came to a stop and sat down with a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, letting the aches subside. Well he hadn't' found her mingling with other evil sorceress he was repugnant to, arming herself to the teeth or bargaining to hire a hit man.. That was a good sign she wasn't playing the betrayal game.  
  
"Good to see you to." Nef huffed but a grin spread over one side of her face. "Ya still feel like hell?"  
  
Moze huffed and looked ahead of him. "That obvious huh?"  
  
"Ahh, well you LOOK like hell." Nef considered for a moment. "But then what else is new?" Her giggle was stifled as an arm shot out, knocking her off balance and sending her tipping over into the well. At the last second her hand was caught.  
  
Nefret looked up wide-eyed, still startled from the near plummet she had almost taken. Moze grinned back at her from the edge of the well. "It's tempting." But with a grunt her pulled her back into a sitting position. Before Nef could recover to retaliate Moze was on his feet and looking oddly at her bag, which had begun to shake and produce noise.  
  
Following his gaze Nef snatched up her bag. She shook the bag hard and smiled at him.  
  
Mozenrath's eyes narrowed. "Is something going on here little minion?" Nefret gave him the ol' what-do-you-mean look. "The street rat is acting daft, you're all to happy considering what just happened, and your hiding things from me. I can tell." He approached, serious. "So is there anything strange going on?" He was going to have no mutiny on his ship and if that meant interrogation so be it.  
  
Nefret smiled and poked her finger to his temple. "Demons left you a few blocks short of a pyramid. No Mozenrath nothing 'strange' is going on if you consider the 'normal' we hold around here." Well that wasn't really a lie, it counted more as just skirting around the subject.  
  
Moze dug deep into her eyes, but could see no hint of hatred behind them, nothing that would suggest she was up to insubordination. He smiled and let his shoulder slump to a more informal stance. "Well talk about this later. Right now lets get home before Chroias thinks me passed out in an alley somewhere."  
  
Nefret sighed as she watched him pull the edge of the cape over both their heads and the marketplace landscape was enveloped in velvety black before the shade was dropped and the throne room of the Citadel met her eyes. Mozenrath headed to the sanctuary of his throne leaving Nefret standing in the middle of the room slightly bemused. That was until her bag began to shake at her side.  
  
With a quick salaam Nefret beat a hasty retreat out of the room, clutching the bag tightly and leaving Mozenrath's mouth open in a protest that was all to late, she was already gone. On her way she ran past Chroias with only a quick wave.  
  
The demon stood still, feeling the breeze as the girl passed. "Well.. it seems our little minion is home." Chroias sighed and smacked her head. "That means he disobeyed me. again" She huffed and marched to the throne room.  
  
*** Aladdin stepped out of the room Nefret had occupied, he had found it empty. Best guess was that she was home now. Well at least Mozenrath hadn't come back to pound in his face. that was a good sign, right? It was probably best for Nef not to be here right now. he guessed. He swore that family got him into more trouble than a herd of rampaging elephants! You just can't choose neighbors he sighed with a smile.  
  
Chapter 299 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias walked into Mozenrath room and tapped her claws on the floor as she waited for him. She was gonna give that sorcerer a piece of her mind! Didn't he realize that when she said stay put it meant STAY PUT! She was worried about him damn it! Couldn't he understand that? She growled and paced back and fourth, her hands itching to tear into him.  
  
Two hands suddenly appeared over her shoulder, each one holding a prism earring.  
  
Chroias was almost tempted to reach out and take them, full of elation. But halted. She crossed her arms and frowned. "No." she huffed and walked away from him.  
  
"No...?"Mozenrath questioned and followed her.  
  
"No as in I am not happy with you. No as in you had me half scared no as in ...hey!" Chroias screeched as Mozenrath tucked his arm around her waist and began pressing the earrings inside her ears. The decorative rainbow colors danced against her skin as she looked in the mirror.  
  
Mozenrath slipped his finger through her locks of hair and moved it behind her ear so that the prisms could be seen better. "Well..."  
  
Chroias tried her hardest not to smile. "No! I'm still angry with you." she felt a shiver rush through her spine as he trailed his skeletal hand along her back.  
  
"But...?"  
  
"But...not as much as before."  
  
"Now don't trip on that overwhelming gratitude." Mozenrath popped her hip gently.  
  
Chroias turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his nose. "Tonight?" she asked gently. "If you think your strong enough?"  
  
Mozenrath chuckled. "Oh I think I can muster up the energy somehow."  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret unpacked her belongings and settled down on the bed. It was a mixed feeling that swam through her right then. The happiness of being what she had know as home for almost five years now, and then...that little twinge of something in her chest.  
  
She shoved it away. Yes it had happened. Yes she had loved it. But it was past the point of regret. Her mind wandered for a moment, letting the sweet images flicker past a little at a time. Nefret smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt, different somehow.  
  
Anubis walked in and licked at her hand, whining. Nefret absentmindedly patted him. "Aww.Did my widdle puppy miss his mistress?"  
  
Anubis growled at the baby talk and nipped at her fingers gently as she laughed. "Silly puppy." she scratched behind his ears. She felt damn good. Good enough to splurge on herself just a bit more.  
  
* * *  
  
Mozenrath tapped his foot against the table leg and looked up the stairs. "Damn it now where is she?" he grumbled.  
  
Chroias giggled and toyed her fingers over his. "Ohh shush up." she grinned.  
  
Mozenrath was about to make a withering come back as a slight cough echoed. He set his face in a your-late sort of look and turned around to chastise Nefret...and his jaw dropped.  
  
"Neffie...I mean...wow!" Chroias half smiled half chocked as the Egyptian walked down the stairs. She was wearing white robes with gold trim speaking out the prayers of Hathor that came down to her knees. She had tied it with a purple sash which matched her hair perfectly and small gold slippers, bangle around her arms and neck. Even her face a little extra make up on it. Her eyes with a tasteful blue and her lips with a lovely crimson tone. Her hair had even been done up in an appropriate style. Brushed over to one side and let flowed down and cascade over her shoulder.  
  
Mozenrath didn't even think about it. It was just the natural reaction of a man seeing a pretty woman. He hadn't even realized he'd whistled till Chroias kicked his shin under the table. He grimaced and immediately hiding it as Nefret laughed. "So I take it you like the dress?" 


	13. Patron13

Patron part 13 Previously: okay, I'm getting tired of writing these things. All you need to know is Mozenrath is a Disney character and if you don't know him just think really evil dark sorcerer dude. Nefret is the minion and belongs to me, your webmistress Laura. Chroias is Mozenrath's lover/girlfriend and belongs to Kalynn. Chroias and Mozenrath have 2 children Tristram and Zakurum who are also property of Kalynn. Apepe is a minor character with a bigger part in this story and also Nefret's half brother. He belongs to me also. All these dang characters have had a bunch of other adventures that I wont go into here. Now this is a sort of rest for them all. Read and enjoy the chaos.  
  
Chapter 300 (by Nefret)  
  
Moze grumbled incoherently about being late but really didn't shoot the insults into her like normal. It was just. Nefret had always just been. Nefret. In her normal skirt and orthodox linen top with her hair in off kilter curls.. she had just become Nefret. Now she was different. oh yeah, something was up. But he wouldn't pry this time, he'd give her the benefit of the doubt, just 'cause if he pried she'd bring up less savory moments of his demonic episode and guilt trip him. He was already wrestling with that.  
  
Nefret and Chroias exchanged looks as the food was finally served and just rolled their eyes and giggled. Chroias had an idea what was going on with the little minion of the house. She was in a good mood, the kind of mood Chroias thoroughly planned on being in tomorrow morning.  
  
"You're looking nice tonight." Chroias commented, a grin growing. "Anything special?"  
  
"Well, we just made it thought the Beast alive, I got a break from the Citadel for a few days.. Why not do something a bit special?" Nefret shrugged it off.  
  
"Uhh huhh." Chroias chuckled. "Well at least we're back to normal now.."  
  
Nefret's eyebrows raised and her lips formed an 'O' "Normal? What is this 'normal' you speak of?"  
  
Chroias huffed and threw a crumb of bread at her. Mozenrath laughed and joined in, little bits of white crumb making their way across the table.  
  
  
  
The moon rose in the sky, brining the atmosphere to a blaze of color. Chroias smiled as she turned away from the window and walked into her room.  
  
Nefret lay in her old room, eyes closed but still awake. Funny that she felt so at home in such a place as the Citadel.  
  
*tink*  
  
Nefret creaked her eyes open.. Did she hear something? With a hum she pushed herself from the bed and walked to the window just as another pebble hit the glass pain. With a questioning look she opened the window and leaned out. Below, a few floors down, stood a male form. For a moment Nefret squinted and then let out a deep heave of breath.  
  
"Good evening to you brother." Nefret called down to Apepe.  
  
The man on the ground smiled. "Hey little sister." He grinned and with a sweep of his arm indicated the ground. "Care to take a walk with me?"  
  
Nefret looked out into the desert for a moment before looking down at him. "Can't go very far." She sighed, indicating her anklet.  
  
"Then we'll just walk in small circles." He joked as Nef gave him a that's-not-funny grin.  
  
  
  
Slowly Nef tip toed out the front door and gingerly closed it, making sure the latch didn't catch to hard. Turning she took Apepe's hand and they began to talk. Silence for a while, then. "Okay what are you into now?" Nef sighed.  
  
"How do you know I'm into anything?" Apepe sounded put off.  
  
"Cause dear brother, you show up at my window late at night after not even sending me a letter for months.." Nefret broke off and left the air uncomfortable.  
  
Apepe grimaced and looked down at the ground. "I do the best I can sister." He grumbled. Then his mood lifted again, as it always did, and he strutted proud and held his head high. "Ah dear Nefret, you've once again hit me with your blunt truth. I've come to you with a problem." He spoke over dramatically, forcing Nef to chuckle.  
  
"Of course." She hummed as they left the abandoned town and walked the desert. Soon the barriers of the kingdom would come up, the bars of her cage. It was late.. Or early depending on how you looked at it. The sun would rise in an hour or so. Yet they walked, round the outskirts as they talked. Till, upon a slight crumbling hill they found, they watched the sun come up. Both a bit somber, yet with a hint of a smile on their faces.  
  
And the sun rose over the land, lighting the sibling's faces with warm rays. Everything to be said had been said and none of it resolved. Walking the hour and a half back to the Citadel and explaining her absence was the least of Nefret's concerns right now. And rightfully so.  
  
Chapter 301 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret paced back and forth down the halls. Of course Apepe couldn't have gone to anyone else with this little problem...ohhhh nonono! He had to come to HER with it. As if the problems in her life weren't big enough already, now she had this to deal with. Now let it be known that Nefret loved her half brother dearly, and would have done anything in the world for him. But at this particular moment she could have wrung his scrawny neck!  
  
The Citadel doors swung open just as she reached them, and Mozenrath came walking out, a sour look on his face. "Where have you been?" he started and shook his hand as Nefret opened her mouth to explain. "Never mind, your here now and that's the important part." he took her hand and began leading her through the halls of the Citadel.  
  
Nefret hummed to herself as they neared the lab. If it wasn't one thing then it was another with him. She grabbed hold of the side of the lab door and jolted Moze to a stop.  
  
"For the love of Hathor Moze what is it?" she snapped.  
  
Mozenrath turned and looked at her. "You wanna know what it is?" He held up a finger and gently pushed open the door to the lab with it. Nefret poked her head in and gasped .There sat Tris, a small smile on her face, sitting in a armchair, with her hands crossed in her slightly plumpened belly.  
  
"Hey Auntie Nef." She smiled and waved.  
  
Nefret smacked her head. Apepe had said he's told Tris to stay in an Agrabah hotel, but like usual, the headstrong girl had taken matters into her own hands. Nefret felt a gloved hand land on her shoulder. "I know your brother had something to do with my daughters current condition."  
  
Nefret searched for an explanation. After all, this didn't look good. Tris was here, pregnant, and Apepe was no where to be seen. Defiantly didn't look good. Nef twiddled her thumbs as Mozenrath growled in her face. "Well, Apepe is somewhere around here..."she hesitated. "My guess is he sent Tris here ahead of him, knowing that if he showed up first you'd likely remove his head..."  
  
Tris sighed and stood up, she staggered slightly and immediately Mozenrath was holding her arms. "Daddy I'm fine..." she smiled at him. "Nef is right. Apepe is here...and STILL with me." she glared at her father. "He's in Agrabah right now."  
  
"Oh really?" Nefret could already see bloodshed in Mozenrath's mind. She could just see him storming into Agrabah, and suddenly her brothers head would be on a pike.  
  
Tris nodded her head. "Yes, and I'm not going to tell you where either..."she stamped her foot firmly on the ground and the windows and mirrors cracked. "Don't do it daddy." she said firmly. "I know what your thinking, and I won't let you. Apepe loves me...I know it."  
  
Mozenrath took a deep breath, trying to keep his temper reigned in. "Tristram..." he started. "Listen to me. I know you've had....interludes of an intimate nature with this boy..." he could SEE Apepe head floating in a jar.  
  
"Oh yeah Moze, the belly is kind of a dead giveaway!" Nefret chuckled and snapped her mouth closed as Moze shot her a withering glare.  
  
Mozenrath tried to calm down. His whole mind swam with horrific images all of which seemed to involve Apepe's head or other random body parts being set on display. he was at a loss. "Wait till your mother hears about this...!" he stormed off down the halls, fuming.  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret waited till the sound of Moze's footsteps echoed out of ranger. Next thing she knew her's and Tris's arms were wrapped around each other, hugging for all they were worth. "I'm gonna be an Aunt!" she squealed and squeezed Tris.  
  
Tristram hugged her godmother. "Ohhh. I was soooo nervous coming here." she sighed and settled down in a chair. "I mean, Apepe told me to wait in the hotel while he talked to you, but I was so scared! I was sure that if Daddy heard it from you first he'd fry both of you!"  
  
Nefret giggled and put her hand to the baby. "Ohhh. Another member of the Mozenrath family line." she closed her eyes for a moment till Tris poked her shoulder.  
  
"Perhaps you've forgotten. She'll be Anuxamoon to."  
  
Nefret turned around to see Chroias standing in the doorway, arms crossed. Her statement hard to read. There was obvious elation for her offspring, but yet, the sad fact that her child was unmarried.  
  
Chapter 302 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret smiled simply and greeted the demon. She moved away as she came forward to embrace her daughter. The sentimental moment between mother and daughter lasted a few silent moments, then they broke away from each other. Trist looked down and rubbed her belly. "Yeah. She'll be a Mozenrath and an Anuxanamoon.. Gods help her." She smiled and laughed a bit at that.  
  
"Blood is finally mixing." Chroias sighed and shook her head, a funny sort of tone about her.  
  
"We'll be one big happy family!" Nefret threw up her hands and stretched. The air of her words decidedly sarcastic.  
  
A sputtering noise came from the door. Everyone turned to Mozenrath suddenly standing in the doorway. "One...one big HAPPY family?" he managed to spit out before the stem came out of his ears. "I think NOT!" He turned to Chroias. "How can you take it so lightly?!"  
  
Chroias's face fell dark and stern. "I'm not, in the least. But honestly.. what can be done?" She pointed to the belly. "Nothing! That's what. So alls we can do is.." She shrugged, not knowing how to say it. "Make the best of it." She walked and took Mozenrath's side, literally and maybe figuratively. "But there are some serious matters to talk about young lady."  
  
Trist winced at the tone and looked up. "Like."  
  
Mozenrath heaved himself into a chair along with Chroias and motioned for Trist to sit also, with the other hand ordered Nefret out the door.  
  
The Egyptian's arms tightened at her sides. "This has something to do with me to ya know!"  
  
Mozenrath growled but relented, pointing to a patch of floor at his side. Nefret crossed her arms with a huff but fell Indian style onto the appointed place.  
  
"One!" Suddenly the sorcerer bust out, holding up one finger to indicate the first point of his argument, vain though it may be. "Your way to young!!!" Trist sputtered slightly in her defense but Moze would have none of it and cut her off. "Two!! Your not married!"  
  
This time Trist jumped and got her voice in before he could continue. "You and moma weren't married when Zak and I were born!" She stomped a foot and looked pouty.  
  
Chroias shook her head. "That isn't the point, Tristram. We wanted you to do it the proper way."  
  
A voice rose from near the floor, low and under her breath. "Oh, it's the old 'do as we say not as we do' principal." Nefret was immediately whapped over the head by a gloved hand.  
  
Mozenrath suppressed all the horrid things he wanted to do and say at that moment and broke out again with a third finger. "Three, Apepe isn't good enough for MY daughter!"  
  
This time both Tristram and Nefret came to the defense with things like. "Apepe loves me." "He does the best he can!" "Don't talk about my brother that way!" "He's a damn fine human being." "I'll have you know he's from a good line!"  
  
The girl's voices merged into one big clatter and Moze put a stop to it with a roaring rendition of his own. "He's a peasant, an illegitimate child, poor as dirt, the son of a whore, cocky as hell, and just not. GOOD ENOUGH!" Mozenrath yelled, causing the girls to close their mouths immediately. Chroias placed a hand on her lovers shoulder and pulled him back into a seated position. Moze huffed and puffed, tying to get out his last point. In a deep breathy voice, "four, he's the blood of the help." He pointed suddenly to Nefret. "I will not have my line mixing with that of my slave!"  
  
Trist's lips pulled slightly into a pout as she rubbed her belly. "It's a moot point, it's already to late." And there simply wasn't counter argument to that.  
  
*******  
  
Chroias sighed as she rubbed her arms to warm them against the cold night air. "Mozenrath really, why don't we just wait.." She was cut off by a deadly look from him. He turned back around and huffed. Both now sat in a dark outside corner of the citadel, hidden by the shadows caused by the inlet, looking up at Nefret's window.  
  
"He'll be here, I bet you 100 denary he will. He'll try to gain entrance to my manor AND my daughter thought my little minion. Sniveling cowered." He growled. "And when he comes knocking on his sisters window I'll get him." He laughed lowly. "Oh I'll get him."  
  
And with that Nefret's figure came to the window, stopping momentarily to look out as a dark shadowy male figure crept over the dunes and headed in the direction of her window. Nef smiled as sighing smile and opened the glass, waiting to for him.  
  
Chapter 303 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath paced back a forth in front of the window. His mind raced with possibilities. Of course the first one was evisceration. The rest followed in suit. But that wasn't what really plagued his mind. It was the baby.  
  
Mozenrath walked over to the small mirror beside the bed and look at himself. He was nearly 25 now. His face still shone youth. His skin was still smooth and unwrinkled. Quickly he took off his turban and searched his head for any signs of grey. None whatsoever. "I am simply too young for this...!"  
  
Chroias giggled as she walked from the shower room. "Feeling a little too old m'love?"  
  
Mozenrath scowled at her angrily. "I'm what now...nearly 25? I have children...and now my children are having children!" he scoffed as he looked at Chroias. "I wasn't planning on grandchildren till I had gray hair and wrinkles."  
  
"And had grown senile and frail?" Chroias laughed and threw her pale arms around her lover. "Why on Earth would you want that?"  
  
Mozenrath stopped his smile and kept a dead pan face. "It's not that! I wanted....I wanted...."  
  
Chroias sighed and tossed off her towel. "You wanted to rule the Seven Deserts and then the world. Live forever, and have a thousand harem girls."  
  
"Something like that yes." Mozenrath watched as Chroias dressed. "I just...never planned on things turning out like this..."  
  
"A woman who loves you. A sister, two wonderful children, soon to be a grandfather." she kissed his cheek. "Mozenrath you have what some men strive their whole lives to get...and never succeed" she touched his chest. "Please...can't you just accept that? Live your life to the fullest and love it?"  
  
Mozenrath sighed and looked into her beautiful eyes, glowing a soft gold against the moon light. Why was he always like this? What was so horrid about his life?  
  
Something inside him answered. It was only too easy to figure out. His hand, his loveless childhood....his torments by his mentor. Yes, he had part of a life most men dream of...but at what cost?  
  
Chroias noticed the far-away look in her lovers eyes and settled into his lap, prepared to warm his heart with her touch. She of all people knew what the path of life can bring on a person. The pain, trial and tribulations...all of it. And yet, he'd persevered. She pushed her hand behind Mozenrath's head and brought her lips to his. "Not tonight...." she whispered softly. "Not tonight...."  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret waited till the soft sounds of Chroias's whispered voice came from the bedroom as she snuck from her chambers. She' owed Roi for this, she really did.  
  
Apepe was waiting just outside the Citadel, past the mamlucks, who had been ordered to watch for him. He waved from behind a building as Nefret joined him. "Damn it I told her to stay back in Agrabah!" he growled and huffed.  
  
Nefret chuckled and then turned serious. "Apepe....there's something I need to know...." her brother turned to look at her. "Are you serious....about Tris I mean."  
  
Apepe's face turned sour. "Of course I'm seriouse! You think I would risk my neck in coming here if I wasn't?" he started shouting and Nefret slapped a hand over his mouth to silence him.  
  
"Will you shut up!" She growled and look him in the eyes. "Mozenrath doesn't think your good enough for his daughter." she started, trying to explain the situation.  
  
Apepe smiled. "The damn sorcerer has a father complex." he started to laugh. "He has a father complex!"  
  
Nefret giggled. It was funny to think of big, powerful, Mr.I'm-Going-To- Rule-The-Seven-Deserts getting paranoid about his child. "yes he does."  
  
Apepe shrugged. "I can deal with an angry father. I can't deal with an angry father who happens to be a sorcerer..."  
  
Nefret shrugged and sighed. "We'll figure out something...Apepe." she started to turn away and suddenly jerked around. "Apepe....are you going to marry her?"  
  
Apepe smiled. "Now why would I want to do a silly thing like that? Kidding Kidding!!!!" he yelped as Nefret whapped him over the head with her fist.  
  
* * *  
  
Tris sat in her old room. Rubbing her belly and thinking to herself silently. She tought silently of her brother, and what his reaction would be to all of this. Would he react like her father, or be a good Uncle and support her in it all. Sighing to herself, she focused her mind and began to contact Zakurum.  
  
Chapter 304 (by Nefret)  
  
"Hello oh brother of mine." It started, nonchalant.  
  
***  
  
Mozenrath growled as he watched from the window, the grate of the screen leaving moonlit and shadow diamond patterns across his still bare skin. On the black sand below 3 figures were approaching each other, one lurking in the shadows, the other two slipping across the sands like thieves in the night. The silhouettes left no doubt as to whom they were. The one with a rounded stomach greeted the other with an embrace and kiss as the last one looked around before pushing them into the inlet of buildings not to be seen by the spectators.  
  
Mozenrath growled again, deep in his throat and grabbed for his robe. "Why those little rats!" He cursed. Probably not meaning to include Trist in the curse.  
  
Chroias laughed, getting up from bed. "Leave the children alone. I don't anything to wicked will go on tonight. If I know mortal men they are absolutely terrified to touch a pregnant woman." She laughed as Moze tightened the belt of his robe with a quick jerk. "Besides, you go out in the breezy night with only THAT on and you'll give them all a little shock." She held back the smile on her lips.  
  
Moze snickered, envisioning it, then gave a throaty chuckle. With a sigh he relented. "Alright." He turned to her, hands on hips. "But you had better give me a good reason to stay."  
  
Chroias smiled. "Of course."  
  
****  
  
Apepe scratched his head. "So what did he say."  
  
"Zak?...not much. he was kinda shocked. kinda not. He did laugh and make some reference to impending massacre. but he's coming soon, to see if he can't help smooth things out." Trist's mouth pulled to the side as she lovingly traced the lines on his palm.  
  
Nefret eyed them, leaning against the outside wall. She'd not known much of her brother, but enough to know he wasn't the best example of the male sex. Not to say he was horrid. Oh no, he just came with a few flaws that haunted the male species: Over confident, brash, tactless, and evasive with feelings. Though she had to admit there was something kinder in his eyes when he was with Tristram, maybe..  
  
Apepe caught her look and smiled, pulling her aside gently. Slowly he leaned into her ear to whisper a secret. "I have something to show you." He looked around, making sure Trist wasn't listening. "Something I've been working on in Agrabah.. I want your opinion."  
  
Nefret patted his arm. "I would if I could Pepy." She said back, not in a whisper. Her face turned a bit downward. "But I can't leave this place."  
  
Trist piped right up, having heard the last bit of the conversation. She knew Apepe was keeping a secret, but if he was telling Nefret then it must not be of a bad nature. "No longer a problem Aunty!" she pointed to the anklet. "I can take it off!"  
  
Both of them stared blankly at her for a moment. Nefret smiled slightly, playing the role of the elder though Trist was mentally at her own level. "No Trist, only Mozenrath can take off the anklet."  
  
The girl shook her head with a fever. "No no, Zak found out the scrap of paper with the combination on it when Moze and barricaded him in the lab for so long." She laughed. "It was under the desk, beneath the floor boards, and in 4 boxes!! I can contact him right now and ask him what it was! But it will still have to be a secret to you Aunty. No peeking!"  
  
Apepe brightened. "Alright then! Nefret will come with me to Agrabah. Trist you'll have to say here." He frowned when she pouted. "I know I know. But I need you to make an excuse for Nefret in the morning as to why she's not around. Tell them. she's sick in bed." He breezed. "We'll be back before dinner tomorrow."  
  
Trist kicked at the sand and nodded. "Alright." And with that she closed her eyes to get the combination from Zak.  
  
***  
  
Apepe swept his sister down a dark street of Agrabah. The Egyptian girl could tell he was excited and apprehensive at the same time. He stopped outside a mud brick house, not a lavish building but well enough for the less well off part of town. Apepe took a set of keys from his kilt fumblingly.  
  
"Now. now I know what your going to say.. But I've been working hard on it.. to make the most of what I could get. it's not the greatest.. I know.. Not something..." He stopped and turned quickly to unlock and swing open the door, leaning back for her to enter. "It's the best I could do."  
  
Nefret stepped in and Apepe lit the lamps. Smooth creamy plaster walls came to light slightly pock marked, and a padded dirt floor. It was humble, and made of poor material, but clean as a whistle and the beginnings of furniture where placed carefully around. Nefret's expression was hard to read. Apepe knew she had lived in only manor houses; they're own father's estate, the temple, and the Citadel.  
  
He had never been so lucky and this humble hut was, to him, something of his pride and joy. If only she could see what he saw. "See here." He suddenly darted the parlor part of the common room, cut off by wooden screens. "I got this big lounger from one of my employers!" He sat down heavily on a red couch of what had once been a rich tapestry fabric, and still was save for a few worn spots. "And these rugs on sale in the marketplace!!" He jumped up excitedly and nearly sprinted to the back room, dragging Nefret with him. "This bed from my mother. And the bathtub.. well I found that. And the curtains and little decorations I've been collecting over the years!" He pointed and darted here and there in an excited and proud frenzy. Nefret just stood there, mouth slightly agape as she took in all in. He suddenly came to a cradle, next to the bed. "And this cradle." He chuckled nervously. "Well I kinda. stole it from our Uncle, I think it might have been yours as a baby.. It's lawfully yours anyways, not his." He scooted it to her a bit. "You can take it if you want."  
  
Nefret bit her lip and shook her head no, half telling him to keep it and half overwhelmed with emotion. Apepe gulped, stopping his feverish tour of the house to shuffle his feet. "I know it isn't much... I've been taking every delivery job and working as hard as I can." Nefret let out a cry and jumped him, wrapping her arms around his neck and feet off the ground.  
  
"It's the most beautiful HONEST house I've seen." She said into his ear. Apepe sighed in relief of her acceptance and swung her around a bit before setting her down.  
  
"It just needs a woman's touch." He elbowed her, hintingly. "The yard is still a mass of broken pots and weeds and I have money to spend in the market place tomorrow."  
  
Nefret rolled up the sleeves of her coat. "Lets get to work then, we'll pull an all nighter then go shopping in the morning!"  
  
Chapter 305 (by Chroias)  
  
Nefret flopped down on the old silk couch. It had taken all damn night, but the place was beautiful. Every inch was spotless, patches and frayed edges had been sewn over and done with a woman's care. The windows were cleaned and the bright light of dawn had just begun to cross over Apepe's tired face. His bright ebony eyes were closed with dark circles underneath them. His spiky hair was matted with sweat, and his clothing needed washing. But a small, pleased smile was plastered on his handsome face.  
  
Nefret giggeled. Perhaps his reputation spoke out against him, but her father spoke in him. He was, true to Mozenrath's words, the son of a whore. But he was also the son of her father. She had little doubt that he would work as hard as he could to keep Tris and the baby happy and well fed. It wouldn't be the easy life, but it would be an interesting one. Besides, Nefret had no doubt that their would be the occasion inadvertent claw entered when times got rough.  
  
As she saw the merchants setting up their stall, Nefret quietly snuck from the house to purchase a few things here and there. She sighed and kissed her brother good morning. "Good luck big brother."  
  
* * *  
  
Chroias walked up to Nefret's bedroom and knocked twice on the door. "Neffie baby! Time to wake!" she knocked once again. 'Of course.' Chroias sighed, trying to figure out how she was going to explain this one to Moze. She started to tap the door open.  
  
"Mom!" Tris suddenly appeared by the door, slamming it shut. "What a lovely day! Isn't it just a great day mommy?" Tris smiled, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight.  
  
Chroias back away from her daughter. "Either your hormones are raging or your trying to hide the fact that Nefret snuck out last night."  
  
Tris's dark red eyes got wide. "You knew?"  
  
Chroias laughed. "Of course I knew! I made sure your father was occupied while she did..."  
  
"Mom!" Tris's cheeks blushed. She knew perfectly well what her parents relationship was, she just didn't need to hear it out loud.  
  
Chroias watched her child's stomach. "I'm very proud of you Tris." she spoke softly.  
  
She blushed brighter. "For what?"  
  
"For making a good decision the first time." She kissed Tristram's cheek. "Not all women have the good luck to find a man who will keep his responsibilities in mind after the deed has been done." She smiled warmly, hugging her daughter. "You two WILL be married...and don't give me that look young lady." she warned as Tris' face began to resemble her fathers when he was displeased. "I may rage with him but I agree on this point. An official ceremony will take place before the child is born. Also your grandparents will have to be notified..."  
  
* * *  
  
Mozenrath grumbled as he talked to Chroias about the whole thing. "I will not have her interfering in this!" he shouted and glared. "Chroias I have let you have your way in this matter for to long! Now my servant is missing, my daughter's lover is vanished and NOW...!" he fumed. "Now you want me to tell my mother the whole embarrassing thing!!" he grimaced at her  
  
Chroias tapped her foot. Why he was choosing to set his foot down on this she'd never know. "Mozenrath you don't have to tell her yet! Tris has agreed to marry Apepe as soon as he gets back and then...."  
  
"Back! Back! No there is no back! That little wretch will NOT be coming back to anything!"  
  
Chroias could feel her anger growing. Her eyes glowed as she felt her horns grown...but just as suddenly, the oncoming Armageddon stopped. "Very well my love." she said and promptly spun on her heel.  
  
Mozenrath groaned. "Now don't be like this Roi..."  
  
Chroias looked around innocently. "Like what...?"  
  
"You make it so damn difficult sometimes!" He complained.  
  
Chroias smiled gently. "I know I do....but I love you...that makes up for it."  
  
"At the risk of sounding exactly like your father...does he love her?" Mozenrath watched Chroias face for reaction. "I can live with being disobeyed...but if he breaks her heart...."  
  
Chroias shrugged. "Maybe you should ask Nefret. This is her brother...not mine. Or better yet..."she grinned "Maybe it's time you got to know your soon-to-be son in law."  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey hey ladies and gentleman!" The loud and brawny call rang through the halls of the Citadel like a trumpet announcing a king. "Zakuram has returned!!"  
  
Mepho meowled as he heard the noise and slashed at the intruder.  
  
"Ouch! Hey! Hell-of-a-nice welcome home!" He picked up the kitten. "Now who might you be o' small clawed thing?"  
  
"That o' son of mine would be your mothers pet!" Mozenrath scooped up the kitten. "Where's Domdi?" Not that he really cared, but what the Hell. It'd be nice to know someone's life was going alright.  
  
"Dad! Way to hit on a nasty subject." Zak frowned. "We decided the pressure between Eden and myself was a little to much, we are no longer an item." he sighed, genuinely displeased. "But, in the grand tradition of ego maniacal males, nothing could keep me down for long." A brilliant smile crossed Zak's face as he embraced his father.  
  
Chapter 306 (by Nefret)  
  
Nefret cracked open the hut door with her foot and backed into it, loaded down with packages.  
  
"What did you get me?" He questioned in a childish tone.  
  
"Oh real exciting stuff! Towels and pots and pans." Nefret laughed and patted his cheek as she unpacked her purchases.  
  
Apepe, hands on hips and chest puffed up, observed his domain. "This place is really shaping up! I bet the king of upper and lower Egypt doesn't even live this good!" Nefret jabbed him, but looked around in satisfaction to.  
  
The now clean and better furbished house glowed under the orangey sun of early evening. Nefret flinched and rubbed her bare right ankle, savoring the feel of the skin free of that heavy metal. "We need to be home before dinner."  
  
Apepe let out a breath. Truth be told both of them would much rather not go right now. "I suppose we both have responsibilities there huh?"  
  
Breaking the mood Nefret jumped on his back and pointed to the door. "To the Citadel!" She commanded and jabbed his ribs with her heels like an old general ordering himself onto the battleground.  
  
Apepe grunted and plodded to the door. "Alright, but we're renting horses. I'm not carrying your rump through the desert!" And the voices faded as the door closed on the little shack, the sun playing off the poor honestness, promising a home to a happy family. You could almost see the ghost of the future as they romped though the living room and laughed at the dinner table. Things soon to come.  
  
***  
  
The air of dinner was slightly strained, the sounds of chairs scooting in as the dinners took their seats and the sounds of mumluks as they prepared to serve. Trist sorta feel into her chair and happily allowed Zak to scoot it in for her. Mozenrath fell into his chair with a displeased grunt to, but for an entirely different reason. Chroias sat at the side of the head of the table and smoothed her palm over the back of his hand.  
  
Absences at the table. hum, yes. a few could be explained and were already known but an other.. "Where's Domdi?" Trist broke the silence and was promptly kicked under the table by an unidentified foot as Zak flinched. Trist made a face and let her voice fall quiet. "Oh."  
  
Zak suddenly grinned. "I notice your missing someone to." He breezed.  
  
Trist's mouth flexed a bit, like she was thinking of what to say. "He's. He's."  
  
"Not missing!" Called out a spry voice, bursting into the room suddenly. Nefret bounded into the room carrying dinner trays as if she had been there all the time, slaving away in the kitchen. The sharp clink of silver rang out as the trays were set down in front of the master and lady of the house. Trist's belly was patted and Zak's head ruffled as their dinner was set before them by the live servant of the house. Rarely did Nefret work such domestic duties, only when she was earning herself some leeway. "Welcome home dear nephew." Nefret breezed on before he had a chance to greet back. "Apepe will be joining us shortly, he just has wash up!"  
  
Mozenrath recovered from her sudden reappearance. "Save it minion, we'll talk about you little adventure out later." He growled at her ankletless ankle before she plunked down in her own chair, shoving her right leg under her to hide the absence of her shackle. The last bit of her speech finally caught up with him. "And hell no will that BOY be sitting at MY dinner table! He may be a future member of this family but quite an unwelcome one!!' Mozenrath brought his fist down on his dinner table, the one defining fixture of his family. The dinner table was quite a sacred thing, it's members included in an alliet society, the family. Thick as thieves were it's members, and to have a trespasser slip in was an invasion on a very hallowed thing. "He will not steal his way into a chair around my table." Mozenrath hissed.  
  
Chroias scowled. "Now who's making things difficult?" She hissed. "Let him in this table or I wont let you in my." she paused to spare a glance at the children, half dreading the words to come half amused. Chroias gave him a look that foretold what the next words would be and sat back.  
  
Mozenrath growled lowly. "Must you always play that card?" but the answer was obvious, she played that card cause it worked. Well maybe not this time. "No." Mozenrath said simply, to the surprise of everyone there. Turning to his meal he motioned for the mumluks to close the dinning room doors.  
  
Everyone, Chroias more than anyone, hesitated but picked up fork and spoon and began to eat.  
  
***  
  
Chroias slammed the door to her room, Turing to Mozenrath with such a force it sent a wind around the room.  
  
Mozenrath breezed her off. "Hold your anger woman." He sighed and washed his face and combed his hair, only adding to his air of primped and proud Lord. "I think it time I took the reigns of my kingdom firmly back in my own hands. I ruled here long before any bothersome females set foot in my life, and I will do so again at my own accord as I am entitled and must do." He spoke royally then, and with his infamous I'm-so-great sneer. "I let my guard down and my entire domain and subjects have gone astray! I've got my children running around and getting into all kinds of trouble, my slave has managed slipped her collar and run, vagrants from the streets are stealing into my family left and right, and my queen has taken it upon herself to bully me like a mother!" He thrashed his arm around angrily. "Now it's the time for me to step up and make it right, and if that means being strong and even cold blooded so be it!" He brought a fist down on a nearby table. "I will have rule and order!" Yes, he knew there was something soft in him now, a soft feeling afforded to several people, and he knew they wanted to reveal that soft spot and live in it's light, maybe he wanted that somewhat to. But he had let that feeling out a few time, few and far between as they may have been, and just look at the result! He didn't know what else to do than put up his strong front again and pull things into order with an iron fist. He only hoped his fist was strong enough to resist the pull of that tender spot in his accursed heart.  
  
Chroias stood there, blood boiling and demon tendices prickling at her as her lover regarded, not so much her, but his territory, chest puffed and nose trust in the air. Oh the things she wanted to do. But instead, "yes of king. And what do you intend to do." She was dripping with sarcasm but it went unacknowledged.  
  
"Set rules!" Mozenrath declared. "One! Zak will begin a new course in magic! Two, Trist shall not see that boy unless she is chaperoned until the wedding day. Three, Apepe will sleep on the floor in Nefret's room and BOTH will be patrolled at night by a guard outside the room. Four, Nefret's chours will be doubled for her little escape trick AND the combination on the anklet changed! And you will take up your proper duties to me." Mozenrath ended with a guster of kingship and a snort. Chroias flexed her fists, ready to punch him out. "And we will gather tonight to proclaim these declarations to everyone. First however I believe I'll go have that talk with Apepe and make a few things clear to him alone first." And with that he strutted out the door.  
  
Chapter 307 (by Chroias)  
  
There are several pleasant sights to see at he foot of your bed when you wake up in the middle of the night. An angry father is not one of them.  
  
Apepe felt his heart thud all the way down to his stomach as Mozenrath made eye connection with him. Mozenrath was barely any older then he was, maybe a year...two tops, but there was something distinctly more...commanding about him. Or maybe just more rageful. He'd never really bothered to take a good solid look at his future father-in-law before today, but with him sitting at the foot of Nefret's bed, towering over him...Not much of a choice presented itself.  
  
Likewise, Mozenrath hadn't taken the opportunity to look at Apepe much either. He hated to admit it, but the boy WAS rather good looking. Almond shaped black eyes. Strong, and rather gentle looking face. He was altogether rakish looking. Maybe a bit to Aladdinish. But then again ,he wasn't here to judge the good looks of his daughters future husband.  
  
"Rule One..." he started. "You will not exit this room unless accompanied by four or more mamlucks. Rules Two, You will not see Tristram unless I am with you. Rule Three, you will show me the place you intend to live with my daughter AND how you intend to provide for her."  
  
Apepe felt his cheeks turn red with anger. "You know it's just a little late for all this isn't it?" he allowed his voice to drip with sarcasm. "I mean after all the deed has already been done..."  
  
Mozenrath closed his hand very slowly around Apepe throat. "The only reason you are alive you son of a whore is thanks to the fact that my daughter has your seed inside her. I will not permit her to go through life alone with a child."  
  
For al the world. Apepe didn't even blink. "Is that all? Or maybe you just know somewhere inside your twisted little heart that she's in love with me. Maybe you just won't take that away from her?" He challenged.  
  
Mozenrath felt his heart twitch inside his chest. In truth, yes. That was half the reason he'd come in here. He wanted to see if Apepe was as loyal to Tris as he could have asked, or if he'd turn tail and run at the first sign of trouble. After all, for a man with the enemies Mozenrath had, he couldn't afford to leave his child under the protection of just anybody.  
  
He tossed Apepe away from him, a little shaken by the youth insight. Mozenrath stood with all the dignity possible and brushed past Nefret as the doors opened. Your chores are doubled for that little stunt." he said in passing as Nefret's jaw went slack.  
  
"You know sis..."Apepe said with a hand around his neck and the sweet crack of a smile on his lips. "I do believe he's starting to like me."  
  
* * *  
  
Tris sat talking with Zak. It was like back when they were children, able to communicate more through the mind then with the mouth. It was a wonderful was to speak. Sending not only your words, but your implications, pictures, and thoughts as well. Even when Zak laughed he sent a thousand or so images through Tris's mind, letting her see the situation to it's fullest extent.  
  
'We weren't mad or angry with one another.' Zak began, explaining the Domdi situation. 'We'd just realized that with the current standings between Agrabah and our home ,the relationship would be to difficult .She's a good woman, and I hope she finds someone better for her'  
  
Tris nodded and patted her belly. The baby was still growing steadily inside her, a female. She didn't need modern day machinery to tell her, she only needed her own natural abilitys. The child was growing beautifully, and her magical abilities were sending shiver through Tris's skin. She could hardly wait.  
  
Mozenrath opened the doors wide. "Zakurum!" He bellowed.  
  
Zak pun around, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong. 'It can't have been the baby dragon in aunties bed, she hasn't screamed yet...' He thought as his father strode over.  
  
"It is once again time to test your magical abilities." he took his son firmly by the arm and began leading him away.  
  
"And just where do you think your taking him?" Tris suddenly spoke up with a stronger voice.  
  
Mozenrath jerked around to look at his child. "To practice dear. He needs it."  
  
"Oh? And where is your time to teach me father?" she huffed slightly, her eyes glowing ever so gently. "When is it time to teach your other child how to do magic? When is it my turn to learn? When do I get to see the secrets you teach him?" It was an amazing sigh, seeing the young demoness angry. She was as beautiful as her mother. Hair spiking and fluttering as if tossed by an unseen breeze. Eyes burning red like turned embers, fangs growing in her mouth.  
  
Mozenrath heard the cracking of vases and the sharp twisting of metal as the flow of Tris's telikenatic powers caressed the room. "Tris..." he said calmly, unafraid of his Childs hormones. "Zakurum is ready for such things. You have a unique ability all on your own. Something that develops naturally without having to be trained. You should be proud of yourself..."  
  
"And are you proud of me daddy?" she said as her eyes took on the smooth rusty color again. "Are you proud of me?"  
  
* * *  
  
Nefret growled and tried to adjust the new anklet. It was a little heavier this one. Solid gold and encrusted with rubies and snakes. The combination on it was changed to, and even as it bit into her ankle she couldn't make it turn comfortably.  
  
"Here..."Roi walked over and slide a piece of cloth under the ankle and bound her heel. "It's keep it from sharpening against your skin."  
  
"Thanks Roi...you know I don't understand what's gotten into him lately!" Nefret growled and picked up her broom again. "I mean your man's likely to drive the whole household crazy with this sudden testosterone overdrive."  
  
Chroias laughed and picked up a broom, helping her friend with the halls. "I suppose part of it is just him being overprotective." she growled again. "Wait till I told you what kind of outlandish bull cocky he ordered of me last night..." she started to tell Nefret just as Mozenrath turned the corner.  
  
"Chroias." Mozenrath caught her by the shoulder. "Why aren't you dressed properly?" he looked down at her short black skirt and dark emerald tube- top. "I believe one of my new rules was that you take your proper station as my mistress..."  
  
If death could be said to have a sound, Chroias made it. "You want proper...?" she hissed vilely and changed. Her beautiful demonic features had vanished completely. Now a sweet looking young redhead stood before him. Her eyes a soft blue and her face touched just barely by puberty. Her body was absolutely an object of lust, ever curve and cup in the right place, and it was really easy to tell, since she's changed without clothing.  
  
Nefret giggled mildly and covered her eyes.  
  
"I think a man your age would have a harem girl right about like this..."Chroias twirled, nude, in front of him. She pursed her lips and spoken a sickeningly sweet adolescent tone. "M'lord...what is your will of me."  
  
The shocked look on Mozenrath's face was something to see. The girl Chroias portrayed couldn't be any older then 14...if that. "This...this is not what I meant at all..."he started.  
  
"Oh?" The child twirled again. "That would be my offal position if were doing things all set out and proper." Chroias cocked an eyebrow. " Your harem girl. Is that what you want from me Mozenrath? Is all you want from me gathered in this form?" she walked closer to him. "Cause if this is all you've ever expected from our relationship..." she paused and looked him in the eye as she changed back into herself. "Then you can have it."  
  
Nefret watched as Chroias left, cloathed now. "You deserve it." she said, risking the sorcerers bad temper.  
  
Mozenrath sneered at her, but nothing more.  
  
* * *  
  
Chroias looked around as Mozenrath came into the bedroom later that night. He looked over at her and smiled.  
  
Chroias cocked an eyebrow. Surely he wasn't stupid enough to think he'd get anything after what he'd done. Mozenrath slide smoothly into bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her body. Chroias scoffed and shifted slightly.  
  
Mozenrath felt his chest rise. "Now surely you can't be that mad at me?"  
  
Chroias looked over at him, blinked, and tossed a bottle of lotion onto his chest. "Have fun." she said and turned back over to go to sleep.  
  
Chapter 307 (by Nefret)  
  
The sun rose again, as it did everyday despite the ever-present clouds that veiled it. Both twins slowly turned and cracked open their eyes, then flung them open. It should have been no surprise, given the day. but somehow. in all the fuss and confusion they had forgotten what date it was. The 24th day of July. The day of their mutual birth. Each of their room was covered in various gifts, flowers and cards of good luck. Trist found among her things both wedding implements and baby things. Zak.. well he found a nice little caged baby dragon at the foot of his bed with a card reading "very funny."  
  
Both smiled, dressed in the new robes given to them and felt themselves fine as kings on their day.  
  
***  
  
Nefret swayed back and forth as she set up the table for a big breakfast. Despite the sudden vengeful turn of her master, the thick as fog tension in the air, and the pain in her ankle that caused her a slight limp she loved a party. or maybe it was just the food.  
  
In though the doors came a group of mumlucks, spear in hand and backs hunched. Between them they formed something like a cube, funny way for mumlucks to patrol but who can figure them out? Nefret shrugged and swiped a finger over the frosting of the cake, sneaking a taste long before it would be cut.  
  
"I saw that." Came a male voice. Nefret jumped and looked around. "In here sister!" issued from between the mumlucks came a hand, raised in the air and bounding up and down as it's possessor jumped to be seen over the crowed of mumlucks that had boxed him in.  
  
"Oh for the sake of Hathor and Horus." Nefret huffed and shooed the undead watchmen away with a few half violent shoves. They allowed the boy to be seen, but stayed close enough that if he were to make a sudden move he'd meet the bad end of a spear.  
  
Apepe stepped forward, as did the mumluks. The boy rolled his eyes and gave up the idea of having elbowroom. "Really, sneaking in cake! What would father say about your appetite?" He poked her belly in the fashion of the Pillsbury doughboy.  
  
Nef pouted and walked away, suppressing her limp. "And what would he say about you repeating his mistake?" Nefret spat back and immediately regreted it. She knew the fact that Apepe was illigeitament ate away at him and to throw it back at him was a crime worthy of death for a sister.  
  
Apepe's face hardened. "I'll never refer to it as a mistake." He growled. Nefret turned to him. She looked down and to the side, mouth pulled taught. "It's alright. I know." He sighed and patted her back.  
  
"Hands off!!" Mozenrath yelled as he came in just to see Apepe touch a female a female figure. Images of him and Trist had immediately flooded his mind and brought him to near panic. The Egyptian boy turned to him, bringing the female into view.. Nefret. not Trist.. Nefret. Mozenrath cleared his throat and pressed back that silly panic. "Oh. it's you." He brushed back his hair and as well brushed off his foolish outburst. Head held high he inspected the table. Suddenly he snapped his fingers twice and pointed to and empty spot between the roasted ham and the orange duck. "You missed a spot." He breezed and waved Nefret to rearrange the trays.  
  
The girl's fists clenched and her back tightened as he lip trembled but she started to shove the plates around, making more noise than necessary.  
  
"When will our. er.. guests be arriving?" Mozenrath sneered.  
  
"Diner, tonight." Nefret shot back equally cold. Again, as they had been in the beginning, they were nothing more than master and servant. It was the way it should have been, the way their titles called them to be, but if felt. funny.  
  
Mozenrath grumbled. "Well I suppose we should get this thing done before then." Then turning to the boy, "Well, Apepe, ready to take me to this wonderful house of yours?"  
  
The boy gulped but nodded.  
  
"I'll go to." Nefret piped up. Fearing to leave her brother alone with Moze.  
  
"No you shall NOT!!!" Mozenrath snapped his head to her. "You will stay here and do as I ask!" He slammed his fist into the table.  
  
Just then Zak strolled into the room with all the dignity of a king. Not that he'd just gotten there of course, he's been eavesdropping. "Well hello fair family!" He breezed and dusted off his new robe. "I quiet forgot it was my birthday to be completely honest.. And I forgot it was Trist's as well. That being said I have no gift for her." He grinned charmingly at his father. "But what do men know of buying woman's gifts. I was hoping you'd let me borrow little Neffie to help me in the market place." Zak spared a wink at his aunt. He knew her fear of being to far away from the pair and this was probably the only way she could stay relatively close to them.  
  
Mozenrath thought for a moment, then, with a fatherly smile. "What's mine is yours. Just be back before dinner."  
  
***  
  
"Does there have to be so many people?" Trist whined.  
  
"Well do you expect your grand parents to NOT come?" Chroias laughed as she fixed her daughters dress. "Don't worry. It's only for tonight. and then again for your wedding day."  
  
Trist issued as heavy sigh and Chroias smirked. Family get togethers in the Mozenrath household were always eventful. And boy were the dates piling up on them, the twins birthday, Mozenrath's birthday, and a wedding coming up!  
  
Both girls found the dinning room locked, to bar them from seeing the feast or possibly sneaking in a bite, and the rest of the manor empty save for a few straggling mumluks.  
  
Chroias tapped her foot against the marble. "last minuet errands. those people are never prepared." She sighed and shrugged. "well little missy, what do you say we do what your father wont and work on those powers of yours."  
  
Chapter 308 (by Chroias)  
  
Tris let her body relax as her mother instructed. Starting from her head down and slowly letting her muscle become soothed. Slowly she opened her mind into her mothers and allowed Chroias to connect with her. She began to see a faded image in her mind. Something shiny, with a bright color to it. Round. A ball.? No but close.  
  
Chroias waited patiently as the large globe in front of her began to rise. It turned around slowly three times and then settled back on the floor. Smiling she stood beside her daughter and hugged her. "I'm impressed! That was made from pure lead and you still lifted it!" she squeezed Tristram till her eyes popped. "Oh your fathers going to be so happy." she stopped suddenly as her child's face fell.  
  
"He won't care. Zak's training is all that matters to him." She frowned and as a small tear slipped from her eye the lead globe cracked.  
  
Chroias growled lightly. "You matter to him and me darling, it's just.I don't think he was prepared for this yet. Humans are funny creatures. He was expecting to have children for a few years and it ...I think it hurt him in a small way to see you all grow up so quickly he could barely even hold you any more."  
  
Tris tilted her head to the side and considered. "We're half human aren't we?" she meant Zak and herself. "That means that my child will be 2/3ds human doesn't it?" Chroias nodded. "I hope she'll age slowly. I want time with her."  
  
"It might be a him Gods help us." Chroias kissed Tris's nose. "He loves you Tris. I know Mozenrath will see that soon enough."  
  
Trsitram rubbed her belly and sighed. "I hope so mother."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mozenrath looked around the home that Apepe had made for his child. It was a complete hovel compared to the Citadel, but.not as bad as Aladdin's home. Still, he'd add a little magic once the wedding was finished and make it a home worthy of his child. "It's.decent." He said as Apepe looked hopeful.  
  
"Well coming from you I suppose we should take that as a compliment." Nefret grumbled as she fingered the drapes and opened them to the sunlight. "Both Apepe and I worked very very hard on this." she hinted angrily.  
  
Mozenrath's head snapped around. "If I want your opinion I'll give it to you." He snapped and turned back to Apepe. "You will improve the conditions here." he wasn't asking, it was more of an order. He spun quickly and walked out the door.  
  
Zakurum grabbed Nefret as she headed after him. "I'm gonna kill him! Zakurum I'm gonna kill your father I swear it!" she promised and struggled in his arms.  
  
Now Auntie, if you kill him then your going to have to explain yourself to mommy.this would not be a good time I assure you." He smiled in the impish way and Nefret slowly settled down. "I'll talk to dad, soften him up a little." He told her and headed after his father.  
  
"I don't know, I do believe he's starting to like me."Apepe smiled and winked at his sister. "So buck up sis, at the very least he likes me enough to leave me alive!"  
  
efret smiled a little and took a sip of water from her glass. "You'd better be in love with her bro."  
  
"I am."  
  
Nefret looked her brother in the eyes and tried to guess his inner thoughts. She could see nothing but honesty in his face, so that would have to be good enough.  
  
Chapter 309 (by Nefret)  
  
Mozenrath looked over the balcony into the common room below, held in the shadows so if even someone were to look up they would not see his face peering down. Zak and Trist were chatting over her newly polished powers, something he should probably be doing with her. should be. Apepe sat a few loving steps away playing a board game with Nef, the winner was obvious by the disgruntled look on the Nefret's face. Chroias sorta sat in the middle of it all, half bragging on one twin to the other and half being a spectator the game in progress.  
  
The sorcerer grimaced. What was the date.. It was way beyond the 27th... way beyond. That day had passed by as common as the one before it and the one after. No special dinner, no gifts or even a smile thrown his way.. His birthday had gone unrecognized. Even by his most beloved.  
  
Had they forgotten? Had they really forgotten such a thing, or was this a punishment for putting up his walls again? Didn't they realize he had to? Did they not see this was how it was supposed to be, how is should be, how it must be now? Yes, it had to be this way... fine, it didn't hurt him a bit. Not one damn bit!  
  
Making an odd sort of sniffing sound he turned away and headed back to his study to buckle down and get to rule his kingdom again. Entering the room he shut the door with a heavy thud and pulled back the seat. Throwing back his cape in a heavy swish of fabric he sat down gracefully and with weight, as might a king do and took up his books.  
  
The words on the page seemed to fuzz around the edges and none would stick to him memory. He read the same line 3 times over without thinking. He just couldn't concentrate on anything now. With a huff he laid the book down to stare into space. Sitting there, hands behind his head, eyes cast the ceiling he was alone. Completely alone.. as he had been year and years ago. Only this time he was alone because he chose to be, or condemned himself to be.  
  
**** Nefret locked the door to her room and got on hands and knees, slowly edging a box out from under her bed. The box made a sudden noise and Nefret slammed her fist over the top.  
  
"Quiet rat of hell!" she cursed. "Thought I forgot about you eh?" She laughed lowly and opened the small gate, one little claw pocking out. "Yes, you know what I have." The piece of chicken she brought near the open cage door was snatched out of sight as quick as lightening and the sound of smacking lips and nashing teeth proceeded it.  
  
Nef leaned back on her heels and smiled. It was almost cute. almost. To bad she had to keep the little monster under her bed for so long. She would give it to him if he deserved it, but then again he didn't. so oh well.  
  
****  
  
Zak took in a deep breath and smoothed back his hair, entering the study a second later without knocking. Mozenrath took his eyes down from the ceiling and dropped his arms, trying to look busy.  
  
"Did I never tell you to knock, son? Zak smiled and flopped in a chair, legs hanging over an armrest. "No, don't remember that lesson." He smirked as Mozenrath huffed and shuffled though some papers. "So what did you do today?" He didn't even wait for an answer from his father before continuing, seemingly rambling. "I learned how to play senate. Nefret's no damn good at that game so Apepe taught me. He's a good young man. Prideful yes and a bit on the egotistical side.. But deep down he follows a good beat, his own." Zak smiled and looked down. "He reminds me of someone. Noticed you've been so busy lately. Well that's to be expected, you DO have ALL of this to run. and all by yourself." Zak sighed and stretched. "Well, no need to worry, I've been keeping a close eyes on everyone for ya." Zak's intent was clear, he seemed nonchalant and agreeable but he was critiquing his father's mood. "Trist seems to be coming along well. The baby seems strong, though trist may need a little more support now and then. I sense she's scared. Apepe is trying hard to be a part of his household... Speaking of the Anunxamoons, Nefret is. so so. She limps a bit now.. But she's working very very very hard. As for mother. she seems strangely lonely. I have no idea why. I mean she DOES have us and Neffie around but." Zak shook his head and smiled at his father, still with the act. "But that's the news on the family front. Just so you can feel reassured while your in here doing all you very very important work." The boy got up from the chair and headed to the door.  
  
Mozenrath, for the first time lifted the papers away to show his face, but only to Zak's back. There was something there, just between the creases of his brow, some human emotion yet to have a good name. "Zak." The boy stopped without turning, suddenly all words escaped Mozenrath except something he'd been thinking about earlier. "Tell Nefret to bring my dinner here, I'll be working late tonight."  
  
Zak's shoulders fell and he let out a sigh after the door was closed. A few moments later Mozenrath heard the sound of a tray being dropped outside the door and the small pat of feet heading back downstairs. Inside he flinched.  
  
*****  
  
Trist, Zak, Chroias, and Nefret sat at the table, in their assigned stations. Chroias in the chair closets to the head of the table, Trist and Zak next facing one another, Nefret next in a smaller and mostly plain seat and Apepe balancing on a chair not much more than a stool. This was now the rule. Just as they picked up their forks to eat a small cough issued from the door and in stepped the head of the house, looking a bit sheepish with his eyes cast down and a frown on his face, but still walking as proud as ever. Slowly he lowered into his seat and picked up his fork to  
  
Chapter 310 (By Chroias)  
  
Chroias smiled a little at her lover. She kicked out the side of one of the chairs and motioned to him. Mozenrath sat beside her, still trying to keep up a front. He tested this new boundary by tapping his foot against hers under the table and was met with a chastising look. It was all too easy to read. You're not forgiven yet! He'd have to be content with how far he'd gotten, which meant another lonely, cold night.  
  
Nefret reached down and fiddled with her anklet, grimacing as it cut a little more into her ankle. Mozenrath looked over at what she was doing and coughed gently, catching her attention. "I have something for that." He mentioned. "Come to my lab later tonight and I'll loosen it a bit."  
  
Nefret seemed surprised.but covered with a cheeky grin all of the sudden. The sort that absolutely screamed I knew you would snap. Still, she managed to cover. "Thank you My Lord."  
  
Mozenrath frowned. "Yes well, it's very difficult for you to serve me properly if your limping all over the place." He heard a slight snicker, which had to have come from Zak. "Tris. I want to have a talk with you after dinner.as well as." he cast what could have been a dark glare at Apepe. ".Him."  
  
Apepe paled excessively.  
  
Zakurum grinned as he received a communication from his twin. 'You guilt tripped him! You sneaky little brat!' Tris's tone was something between elation and scolding. She was of course thrilled that her father's sudden spout of control was slowly dissipating.  
  
Just a little guilt trip. Something to make him realize what all he was missing.' He grinned inside Tris's mind and checked through the lesson their mother had taught her earlier. 'Your improving a lot. I just wish dad would take an interest in your abilities too.' A mental picture of sadness showed itself and Zak bit his lip. 'Sis.I'm sorry.'  
  
'Hey it's not your fault that you're a better sorcerer then I am.not your fault that you were born a boy either.'  
  
She tried to subdue the tears but Zak could see that she was very very close to displaying more emotions then was needed right now. Part of it was due to hormones, the other part due to fear. 'Tris.talk to him about it.'  
  
She made no response but continued eating her meal, not looking up.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mozenrath heard the knock on his door and lifted his head from his books. "Come in."  
  
Tristram opened the door, Apepe just a few steps behind her. "You wanted to see me and Apepe?" she asked and Mozenrath beckoned her in.  
  
"Just you for now. I need to talk with you."  
  
Tris cooled Apepe nervous look. "I'll be fine. I'm sure he just wants to remind me what a huge mistake I'm making." She laughed and kissed Apepe gently.  
  
Mozenrath fought the desire to kill the youth then and there. But only just barely. Instead and let out a low warning sound.  
  
Tris sighed and pushed Apepe away and winked at him. and sat down in a chair in front of him "What?"  
  
Mozenrath never though a single word could hurt so much. There was coldness in her tone that reminded him far too much of himself. "Tristram.Tris.I've been neglecting you." He took a deep breath as those beautiful eyes looked up at his. "I.apologies for it. It's just, when you were born I though." he tried to sort out the right words, but none of them seemed to say what he wanted to say.  
  
"You felt like you weren't ready for this. Like maybe it hurt you to see us move away from you so fast?" Tris offered and Mozenrath looked at her. "I know you weren't expecting twins." she said. "But." the damn of hormones and emotions inside her just seemed to break all at once. "But did you have to ignore me the way you did!" she shouted suddenly. "Did you have to always concentrate on Zakurum and his magic? You just just... just.!" she couldn't find any more words and just started crying.  
  
Mozenrath didn't even realize about what he was doing as he did it. He just noticed that his arms were holding a crying child. For ten seconds she was his baby girl again who needed her father to protect her from the storm. He kissed Tris's cheek and smoothed over her hair. "It's alright..shush shush it's alright." He smoothed over her hair and held her.  
  
"I don't even know why I'm so scared."Tris stammered out. "I mean I know Apepe's been working so h-hard these past few months.." her bottom lip trembled. "He's been taking extra works and been out all the t-time." she forced out little pieces of explanations. "And he's always trying to make s- s-sure that I'm okay and that I don't need anything." Tris sniffled and cried a little more. "He e-even went out and got me some pomegranate juice just cause I wanted it." she giggled in her tears. "And it was like.midnight."  
  
Mozenrath chuckeled.A sudden thought came to him. "Tristram." he waited and dried her eyes with the corner of his cape. "You.you love him don't you?" He waited patiently while she shook her head yes. "This isn't just because you're pregnant or because you're lonely or your trying to get back at me for being a bad father?"  
  
Tris laughed a bit. "If I wanted to get back at you I'd have changed my lifestyle to females." She broke up laughing at the pure fear look on Mozenrath's face. "I'm joking daddy!" she laughed and hugged him harder.  
  
Mozenrath tried a little smile. "Send in Apepe okay."  
  
Tris frowned. "Promise me you'll be nice. Daddy don't go terrifying him or turning him into a mumluks." she warned  
  
Mozenrath smiled charmingly "Now Tris darling would I do a think like that?" he chuckled louder as she popped his shoulder. He sighed and dried her eyes a little more. "Are you going to be alright?" he said seriously. "I mean if you and him ever need anything.anything at all.all you have to do is ask."  
  
Tris smiled and shook her head. "We'll be fine." She promised and hugged him a little while longer.  
  
Mozenrath frowned and smoothed over her bangs. "I never thought it would be like this." he whispered.  
  
"What would?"  
  
Mozenrath shook his head and let her go. "Never mind. Go get him and then go to bed." He rethought the statement. "Your own bed." He said.  
  
"Daddy!"  
  
Mozenrath shook his fingers in a no attitude way. "I meant what I said. You two will continue to sleep in separate bedrooms until after the wedding." he thought for a moment. "But.I'll let the guards off of him."  
  
Chapter 311 (by Nefret)  
  
Apepe made a gulping sound that was heard round the world as he creaked open the study door and took the seat indicated to him. Mozenrath sat in front of him in an impressive looking armchair. His eyes dark under his heavy brows and his pale mouth set straight. Apepe took an unhealthy interest in the paintings on the wall as he was stared at.  
  
"Listen, boy. You know what to expect." Mozenrath said in a flat voice.  
  
"The third degree?"  
  
"Bingo." Moze smiled slightly, so the boy wasn't as stupid as he might appear. "How was your upbringing?"  
  
Apepe squirmed. "My mother was a kind woman to me. She worked hard and I, as well, followed suit. Nef's father.... our father was nonexistent to me. But I was taught to work hard for what I got. And I refuse to follow in my father's path." Apepe filled the words with meaning.  
  
"Work hard to ya? And what shall your business be to support my child and grand child?" Moze poured two drinks, actually offering one to the boy.  
  
"I've been working as a page for some time now. All the nobles in Dendera always counted on good old Apepe to get the messages sent!" He puffed his chest a bit. The sign of a proud working man. "I expect the same kind of recognition in Agrabah."  
  
Moze snorted. "A humble career. Hardly brings in enough to feed your own mouth. But I suppose if you gain enough fame business will prosper. I wont have my daughter working is that understood?" The sorcerer waited till Apepe nodded earnestly. Mozenrath smiled in a way that made your gut churn. "You will marry Trist."  
  
"I plan to already." Apepe smiled back.  
  
"No, you will marry her before that baby comes. You will marry her within this week."  
  
Apepe's eyes grew wide. "There's no time!!"  
  
Moze got up and wrapped an arm around him, dragging him up and walking him to the door. "In this house there is always time." As they came to the door Moze flung it open whole heartedly and patted the boy in the head. "Welcome to the family, son." And with that Apepe was shoved out the door, slightly tumbling and quite unsure if that was a good sign or a bad omen.  
  
Nefret watched as Apepe came out the door, still intact.. she hummed and withdrew the arrow from the cross bow.. No screams, her brother was not bloody and still walked. No need for weaponry.  
  
****  
  
The door to the lab opened sometime after sunset. In slipped the minion of the lord who now sat in the chair looking over a big black bound book. "Ah there you are." He sighed.  
  
"Yeah yeah, here I am, you lucky person you." Nefret half laughed half sighed.  
  
Moze gave her the oh-please look. "I could just make the anklet tighter you know." He grinned threatingly at her.  
  
"No no, that's quite alright. I'd rather keep the skin on my body thank you." She laughed at the involuntary flex of his right hand. Sure it was mean, but he deserved it damn it!!!!! With a little 'umf' sound she hopped up on the table and swung her feet like a child. To cute to be guilty of poking fun at him. sure.  
  
Moze grumbled and pulled the seat up in front of her, catching her foot as it swung up and went to work to lengthen the setting and perfecting the lock. Nefret looked on for a few moments but ultimately got bored. "Haven't seen much of you around." She thought out loud as she looked around. She caught his look just in time. "Not that I missed you."  
  
Moze chuckled and twisted a ruby, causing a small mechanical noise. "I've been told I've been holed up for a while." He was quiet for a moment. "But don't think I haven't' been keeping up on you people."  
  
"Oh wouldn't dream of it!" Nefret gasped sarcastically.  
  
Moze gave her a look. "Okay okay." They was quiet for yet another moment. "There will be a wedding this week Nefret."  
  
The girl was taken aback. "This week? I expect I'll be busy then."  
  
"Yes this one. And yes you will be busy. I admit wedding planning isn't up my ally. So as usual I'm laying the responsibly on you girls." He grinned.  
  
Nefret gave a deep sigh, hiding her happiness. "Very well, my lord." They both gave each other little grin, a look of understanding, the sort they always had, before Nefret hopped off the table. "Shall I tell Chroias you said hi or are you going to send a telegram?"  
  
Moze gave looked surprised at her insolence, than remembered who he was talking to. He smiled rather sadly and looked away. "Have I been that bad?" He asked in a whisper, if she was meant to hear it or not was not known.  
  
Nefret smiled gently. "Worse, much worse." Moze nodded and opened the door for her, following her out the hall and into Chroias's room.  
  
Chapter 312 (by Chroias)  
  
Mozenrath knocked the doorframe and tried to smile at Chroias "Hello m'love." He said softly. She smiled just a little and then turned back away. Mozenrath walked over beside her and sat down on the bed. "I wish I could explain myself to you."  
  
  
  
"You don't need to." Chroias said and slide her fingers teasingly over his. "A father's love for his children needs no explanation, it's just what happens." She looked back at him. "I never had the good luck of a father who wanted the best for me. I always took care of myself and my mother." She slid her fingers under the gauntlet and held his skeletal hand. "Tris and Zak don't know how lucky they are."  
  
  
  
Mozenrath sighed and brought Chroias closer to him. "The wedding is arranged for this week. I'm depending on you and Nefret to set it up."  
  
  
  
"Oh this should be interesting. What religion will they marry under?"" Chroias looked up at him. "I mean neither of us are exactly devout to our faiths.. But Apepe may be very devout to his."  
  
  
  
Mozenrath hadn't even considered the possibilities. "I suppose we will need a priest of some sort."  
  
  
  
"And a guest list. Which WILL include both my parents and yours. Don't go giving me that look!"" She scolded as he grimaced. "They will be invited."  
  
Chapter 313 (by Nefret)  
  
And so it had been decided. Mozenrath could hardly be called a good Muslim even in the loosest sense of the word. The rare occasions when he did invoked Allah was in a curse. Both twins and Chroias clung to only the barest rendments of a Grecian religion. The strongest spiritual force in this household was Kemetic, the Egyptian religion of both Nefret and Apepe. Of course Nefret was only to happy to lend a hand in the selecting a priest. It was only by chance and circumstance that priest happened to be from Dendera. really!  
  
Priest Ptahor was a good man of the second order in the house of life in Dendera and heartily driven to the Land of The Black Sand when he was offered a good sum of money to perform a simple ceremony  
  
****.  
  
While the arrangements were made to deliver the holy man out of his land, Chroias was busy with the guest list. Of course there was Mirage and her parents, Hades and Persephone, but as well Apepe's mother, well she was really the only one on the Egyptians side to be of any consequence. And the diplomatic gesture of inviting Aladdin and Jasmine. It was a lot of people to be hanging around the Citadel, but with any hope they wouldn't stay long, maybe not even the day. There was always hope.  
  
****  
  
Nefret sat under a pile of silk spools, ribbons, flowers, and dress options along with the blushing bride to be, Tristram. Planning the color theme, flowers, music and dresses of a wedding was enough to make your head spin. But it was all coming together and not a moment to soon, the wedding was set for tomorrow afternoon and the guests would be arriving in the morning and the priest.  
  
Nefret held out an attendance dress in front of her. Why were these things always so hideous? Probably to make the bride look all the better. Nefret scowled a bit and looked to Trist, who smiled and nodded in approval of the dress. Nefret sighed and accepted the choice. A knock rang at the door, powerful and commanding.  
  
Bursting from the pile of wedding paraphernalia Nefret skitted down the hall, leaving a trail of ribbons and flower petals behind. The massive front door of the citadel was swung upon to reveal, upon a seat carried by four Nubian slaves, the posh and plump for of priest Ptahor. Slowly the slaves strolled in and placed the seat on the ground, cursing slightly under the breath in terms of their master's girth. Nefret sighed, same old same old.  
  
Ptahor was a round old man, his balled head just as round and shiny as his belly. A linen kilt was tied under his gut, his feet wrapped in sandals and body glinting with sparely placed gold. With a grunt that seemed far to crude for a priest of the second order he lifted his weight up and lumbered onto the floor.  
  
"Imakhu Ptahor." Nefret voiced with a mix of amusement and reverence as she lowered on one knee and lifted her right arm out at knee level.  
  
Ptahor strolled forward and placed a hand on her head, seemly a sign of affection, but he placed so much weigh on her it was more likely he was using her to steady himself. Nef winced and tired not to smack him away. Dang priests always thought the world to be at their service. "Hello little one of Hathor." He smiled.. hum, probably couldn't remember her name. "Glad to see you finally marring. After the great 'wig massacre' I thought you were doomed to be alone." Okay perhaps he did remember her.  
  
Nefret forced a smile. "Oh I am quite doomed. It is not I getting married." She led him to his room.  
  
*****  
  
The nerves were on high that night. Mozenrath had taken to rereading every book I his library, Chroias was franticly making sure she didn't forget anyone, Trist had bitten off almost all of her finger nails, Apepe was pacing the window in Nefret room as Nefret watched him, half hidden under the covers in an attempt to hid from her beloved "Imakhu Ptahor and his constant attempts in reshaping her as a priestess. Just 8 hours of this night left and then THEY come and IT takes place. Weddings, guests. oh boy, this will be interesting.  
  
Chapter 314 (by Chroias)  
  
Chroias busily kept redoing Mozenrath's turban until he finally smacked her hands away and did it himself. "There...not a complicated procedure." he said and straightened it slightly in the mirror. He began to brush imaginary dust from his cape as Chroias put on her jewelry. "Who do you think will be arriving first?" he asked, wanting to know what to prepare for.  
  
"Probably mine...daddy probably heard about this fiasco and decided to halt brimstone production for a month." She attempted to joke. Her face however, was full of worry. After all, it wasn't just the next-door neighbors she had for parents. "I just hope daddy doesn't give too much hassle about this all...I can just SEE what he's gonna say." she mocked Hades. "Well so their getting married before the two of you do eh...."  
  
Mozenrath chuckled. "Oh he'll be alright...it's my mother that I'm worried about!" he switched his voice to a whiney purrr. "OHHH Mozenrath! Your dear baby girls disappearing!!" he stopped chuckling. "She's bound to mention something about the size of Tris's belly."  
  
"Yes....mom will notice, but most likely won't say much. Hades will try to be rude about it." Chroias straightened her dress. It was a casual coffin dress with the ripples done over in dark blue. She had worn gold jewelry so as to match Mozenrath. "This is going to be tiresome..."  
  
"You have no idea... Still...the one least likely to be a problem is Apepe's mother...what exactly DOES she do anyways?" Mozenrath asked with an arched brow.  
  
Chroias sighed. "From what I hear from Nef, she deals in the trade markets...something like perfumes and incense. I'm not sure." she snapped her head around and glared at Mozenrath. "Don't harass the woman Moze...I mean it!" she scolded.  
  
"I won't I promise."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nefret helped Apepe prepare for the wedding. Even though he wasn't his usual self, no smart aleck smirks, no comments. Nefret had to admit. He look handsome in his robes. The white robes had been touched up with deep blue and gold around the neck and sleeves as well as around the bottom. His hair had been tied up and slicked down and Nefret was currently applying eye make-up.  
  
"Stop twitching!" she fussed at him and drew a smooth line across his eyes.  
  
"Well it's hard not to with someone poking me in the eyes!" he snapped back but tried to stay still.  
  
Nefret added the usual touch up's for male make-up and stood back. "There you look fine." she promised and showed him a mirror. He did look good. All appearance of a lowly messenger boy had vanished and a mature, handsome young man now stood before the mirror.  
  
Apepe even seemed surprised at the change. "umm...sis..." he tried to look at her. "Thanks...for all your help."  
  
Nefret blushed. "Hey we're family. Ya know...the last of our family." he kisses his cheek lightly. "I'd better go get ready..." she walked away.  
  
Apepe grabbed her around the waist and ground his knuckles into her hair. "Nuggie nuggie nuggie!!" he yelled as Nefret screeched in laughter.  
  
"HEY !! Stop it you little!!! "she reached around!. "I work hard on your make-up!! Don't make me ruin it!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tris was applying her last touch of make-up when Mozenrath walked in. "Hi daddy. How do I look?" she stood and twirled in her dress. It was pure white and form fitting to her slender body. The only bump was that of pregnancy, and it did not fault her attractiveness at all. Her wild hair hadn't been cut or tied, mearly left to roam free and frame her face. While her two strange of green hair had been laid and curled. The angle sleeve arms had been dyed with blue and gold as had the bottom and her vail had gold lace sewn into it.  
  
Mozenrath gasped ."Baby you look...beautiful." a little sting behind his eyes made him duck his head. Why did he feel so emotional at this. It was supposed to be Chroias's job to tear up, not his. "You look great..."  
  
Tris walked calmly over to her father and hugged him. "Thanks daddy...for everything."  
  
Mozenrath felt a tear slip down his cheek. "Anytime you need me I'm here." he whispered and hugged her.  
  
Tristram sighed. "i know...I know...Daddy...are you crying?"  
  
Mozenrath turned his head away and wiped his eyes quickly. "No...just, your perfume is so strong. Makes my eyes water." he turned to leave. "See you at the wedding."  
  
"Daddy..."  
  
Mozenrath turned around.  
  
"I'm not wearing any perfumed."  
  
Mozenrath nodded his head oddly and walked out, not seeing the smile on Tristram's face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Zakurum sighed, relaxing on the throne, thinking his own thoughts while Mepho chewed on his fingers. 'Your gonna have to tell him the real reason you broke up with Domdi...' he mused over. 'He might not be happy about it but it's a chance you'll have to take. He's your father...'  
  
Mepho chomped down on Zak's hand and the boy yelped. "You little ruffian!" he scolded and tickled the kitten behind the ears. The little thing even seemed to laugh as he did so. "So your my moms familiar are you.?" the kitten nodded. "I need to get me something along those lines."  
  
A large, commanding knock at the front doors caught Zak's attention.  
  
Chapter 315 (by Nefret)  
  
As predicated mirage was the first to arrive. She cated around, quite literally, hanging on to her son in the sheer delight of his face when she was to near, inspecting her daughter in law and grandchildren in more magical than maternal terms and throwing unnerving looks to Nefret as she walked by, busy with rotating snacks and drinks. Next came Hades and Persephone followed shortly by Apepe's mother, and making up the cows tail, Aladdin and Jasmine.  
  
People began to pair off, as was the norm in most social situations when many classes mixed. Aladdin and jasmine took the divine and soft company of Persephone, mirage chatted evilly to Hades, Apepe talked with Zak and Trist clung to her mother and father. Nefret, having never meet Apepe's mother huddled in the corner chatting with the woman.  
  
"Well of course their making a mistake!" Mirage cated rather loudly.  
  
"I give it six months." Hades growled.  
  
"My my you are an optimistic one." Mirage laughed and slapped his arm.  
  
A few feet away Persephone bit her lip, overhearing the conversation and turned back to the royal couple. "Well I think it is simply splendid. I love weddings ever so much. But they always make me a bit misty in the eye." Like a lady she dabbed the corner of her eyes.  
  
"There there." Jasmine comforted and patted her arm. "It's alright."  
  
"Yes, this is a happy occasion. This house finally found real honest, pure love!" Aladdin sighed, he felt uncomfortable as he caught a glimpse of Nef in the corner. He hadn't laid eyes on her since.. Well since last time.  
  
Apepe bit his lip and shuffled his feet. Zak smiled and leaned in. "what ever you do just don't look at her!" he whispered as if it was some covert secret.  
  
The groom autumnally set his eyes on his bride. "Why?"  
  
"Cause its bad luck!"  
  
"Oh gezz!" Apepe said under a hushed voice and turned his head away, terrified he'd jinxed their entire life together. Zak laughed heartily and slapped his back.  
  
Nefret stared into the woman's face... Kipa. her name was Kipa. Nef had never known her mother and yet this Kipa had the face she imagined a mother would have. "My father was a good man and yet he did you wrong and left you for my mother. do you dislike me.. My existence?" Nef questioned.  
  
"No no! Your innocent. And you're the living half of the man I loved. Apepe is the other living half. And together you make him whole in my mind. I love you both." Kipa suddenly grabbed either side of Nefret's head and squished her into her bosom, making small sniffing sounds. Nefret made a choking noise and turned blue.  
  
Moze shuffled his feet and looked around. Jasmine and Persephone were both in tears, Aladdin was shooting strange looks to Nefret who was currently being smothered by Apepe's mother, Hades and mirage seemed to be holding a counsel of war and Apepe looked absolutely terrified as Zak preached to him. Ahh weddings.  
  
"Daddy." Trist said quietly. Moze looked to her. "I'm moving away. I'm gaining a new man in my life. I'm making my own life. But you'll never loose me. Now you have a daughter and TWO sons."  
  
Mozenrath looked at her, his mouth opened.  
  
"Alright alright.. Lets get this shindig over! A feast is waiting at the new couples house!" came a voice from down the stairs as priest Ptahor came lumbering down. His head newly shaved and his body shimmering gold like under the lamp light from the oils. With unaccountable respect the party took their seats and the couple took a seat on a golden bench at the front of the room. "Little one of Hathor!" he ordered and Nefret was at his side in a flash. The light was low, so low their frames were barely silhouetted against the warm fire light. The priest made several motions over their heads as he mumbled words of Amoon. It was a beautiful scene and a sniff was heard from several locations around the room. Nefret, looking quite calm and humble for once, came forth and placed an alabaster bowl on the bench between them. The couple hovered their hands over it, careful not to touch. Priestess Nefret took a pitcher of water and poured the liquid over their hands as a slave does for her master before he eats in the noble houses of Egypt. When the bowl beside them was full they both dipped their hands down. Upon the hands coming out of the water they were shown to be linked. Nefret took bowl and pitcher away and alls that was left were Apepe and Trist holding hands. Priest Pathor took the crook, a singular object from the pair of the crook and flail, and touched it to both their lips.  
  
"Nekhtet!" Cried the priest with a big smile. "Nekhtet!" he cried again with Nefret in chorus and soon everyone cried out in happiness. "Nekhtet, nekhtet, nekhtet!!!"  
  
The party walked though the hut lined streets of south Agrabah in a parade of golden lamplight, the beating of drums, the echo of signing, and the flash and clod of feet towards the new home.  
  
Apepe stepped in and, turning back, offered his hand over the threshold to Tristram. In a monumental moment she took in and stepped in and a joyous yelp arose from the priest, kipa, and Nefret as the true Egyptian wedding was complete in the moving in of the house. 


	14. Patron14

Patron 14 Previously: okay, I'm getting tired of writing these things. All you need to know is Mozenrath is a Disney character and if you don't know him just think really evil dark sorcerer dude. Nefret is the minion and belongs to me, your webmistress Laura. Chroias is Mozenrath's lover/girlfriend and belongs to Kalynn. Chroias and Mozenrath have 2 children Tristram and Zakurum who are also property of Kalynn. Apepe is a minor character with a bigger part in this story and also Nefret's half brother. He belongs to me also. Trist and Apepe just got married, despite much objection. Now, after a our break from the action more chaos befalls our hero's. er anti hero's, whatever. Chapter 316 (by Chroias) Mozenrath looked at his window at the setting sun of Agrabah. His little girl was gone from his life now, married and soon to have children of her own. Despite his treatment of the boy, Mozenrath felt somehow at ease knowing that the messenger would take care of her. He was a good man...would be a good father. There was an odd contentment in having his child bearing a child. The sort that comes with knowing your line will continue on into the future...even when your long gone. For the first time in a long time Mozenrath fingered the sharks tooth. He'd be there to see it all. For generation after generation he'd watch his children grow and live ...and die. That did not set well on his stomach. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nefret walked around the lab, cleaning up some equipment Mozenrath had been using when the familiar smell of feline appeared in her nose. She grimaced. "What do you want?" she spoke without turning around. 'Oh Annoying Incarnate.' she mumbled Mirage merely smiled. "Ohh just to see how my son's little minion is doing." she hummed and lightly grazed a claw over some glass bottles. "Tell me Nefret..."she surprised the girl by using her name instead of superior to subordinate. "How does it feel?" Nefret turned around and arched a brow. "How does what feel?" she backed away as she noticed Mirage was far to close to her for comfort. "Being alone." Mirage smiled with malicious glee. "After all...Tristram is gone...Mozenrath has Chroias...Zak is heading off this evening." she made a small pouty face. "And who is the dear sweet little minion left with?" Nefret felt her heart sink. "When was the last time any of us saw you on a date?" she spat back and went back to cleaning while Mirage chuckled. The cat woman knew she'd scored a point with that one and took her leave while she was still wining. Nefret began cleaning rather viciously. What that damn cat had said was nowhere NEAR the truth. After all, she'd had her fair share of lovers. Lucus back in Egypt. Don...whom she'd be reunited with in the future...Aladdin......well...Aladdin had only been once...but that still counted ...didn't it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chroias listened to Zak's words. She could have guessed. Things around the Citadel never just came one at a time, when somebody dropped a bomb, it was always a doozy! "Ohh Zak..."she whispered. "Baby you picked a really bad time to come up with this." she said, not really scolding. Zak shrugged. "I'm sorry mom. Really I am." "You don't have to be sorry for it! I'm not angry..." she whispered and tried to think. There was no logical way to try and think this through. Of course Zak had a legitimate right to choose his own life for himself. She would not under any circumstance deny him that. But...ohh HELL what a path to choose. "Your father will not be happy about this." "Well I was kinda wanting to pick the right time to tell him...ya know..."Zak smiled lightly and shrugged. "Like on his death bed maybe..." Chroias gave her son a disapproving look. "Long wait you have in store..." she mumbled. "No... Mozenrath will have to be told." she said strictly. "However..." she said upon seeing her son's rather terrified look. "There is no reason we need to tell him right this very second." she said with a small smile. Zak threw his arms around his mother. "Thank You!" he gasped out. "Of course I will be telling your aunt...she'll absolutely KILL me if I don't." Chroias snickered. "Zak...I want you to know...I'm okay with this....but..." she tried to sort her words properly. "Be careful...not everyone you meet will be." Zak shrugged. "It's alright mom. Domdi doesn't know...I didn't tell her. So nobody in Agrabah knows either." Chroias nodded. "All I'm saying is...be careful." she asked. "I always am mom...I always am." Chapter 317 (by Nefret) A knock came softly at Nefret door late that night. The girl muttered some sort of welcome though she was yet to know who was requesting entrance. She had her nose stuck in the pages of a new book, one that had been smuggled to her from the outside by her "connections" as she referred to anyone she knew who had free reign to step outside the boundaries of the land of the black sand. Apepe, though he could not read himself, thought the big hieroglyphs on the front cover made it interesting enough to deliver to her. "Nef. it's me." Chroias walked in and flopped down on the couch with an overdone sigh. Nef raised an eyebrow and set down the book, sensing something was up. "Spill it." Chroias looked at her a second with a blank face than smiled and looked away. "You always know when something's up." "Cause it usually comes knocking at my door late at night with a heavy look and a deep sigh." The girl laughed and settled back to hear the whole deal. "Trouble is in our mitts again I'm afraid, little Egyptian." Chroias warned. "So it has been and so it will always be. Yet who knows what tomorrow may bring." Nef rattled off the old proverbs of her motherland and motioned for her to continue. Less than three minuets later a shriek of laugher rang out, issued from the loud-mouthed Egyptian, which was quickly muffled by a pillow over her face. "Hush silly girl! This is serious!" Chroias growled and let up on the pillow since Nefret's struggles were starting to subside, either because she was getting serious or because the lack of air... Must have been the second because the second she had taken in a deep breath Nefret snickered again and whipped her watery eyes. "Oh I should have guessed it. He was just to cute." Chroias growled again and smacked her upside the head. "Accursed minion." She huffed as Nef fell over clutching her sides. "Okay okay.. I'm okay now." Nef breathed deeply and composed herself. She looked sheepishly at Chroias. "Well now what?" she asked. Chroias shook her head for a long time, looking off into the stretch of the room. "I don't know." ***  
  
Zak sighed and walked out the door, pulling up the hood of his coat and leaving the doorstep of the Citadel, off to his own world again and leaving behind his loved ones in relative darkness. Chapter 318 (by Chroias) Zakurum walked along the streets of the new city. He could have headed for Agrabah, stayed with his sister for a bit, but it wouldn't have proved worth anything. Thanks to their mind link, Tristram had figured out long ago about her brothers controversial lifestyle and given only a simple smile. Having spent nearly a year knowing the most intricate secrets of each others minds, they knew all to well the acceptance that comes only from one's siblings. She had not, thank all Gods, told Daddy. Zak tossed his black pony-tail over his shoulders and smiled into the sunlight. It was a damn fine day outside. This tropical weather suited him just fine. For now it had struck him as the best thing to get as far away from home as possible, let the Citadel cool down, and find himself....a companion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nefret controlled her giggling down to a minimum as Chroias sighed deeply. "Just one tornado after another hey minion?" she said in a weak and tired voice. Her hair had grown back a bit from the time when she'd cut it in order to reassert her individuality. It now hung in wild frays about her shoulders and she twisted her finger through it, thinking. Nefret bit her lip and hugged Chroias close. "It's called life my friend." she whispered in a small voice. "All we have is the choice to keep on livening it...or subject ourselves to the alternative." Chroias smiled. "You know.. sometimes I forget that you were trained as a priestess and scribe." "Yeah well...I try" she kissed her friends cheek lightly and Chroias returned the gesture. "Well...when are we planning to let Daddy dearest in on the good news?" she smiled as Chroias groaned. "Zak said not till his death bed...but when he comes home with a...friend...that will require explanation." Chroias rubbed her temples. "Nefret...did you ever...know anyone whose interests were separate from that of most young men?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mozenrath sat in his lab brooding until he heard the door behind him open. A soft female hand way laid on his and the wisp of green hair told him who was present. "Hello Chroias..."he whispered and kissed her. Chroias smiled and wrapped her arm close around him. "Mozenrath....are you alright?" He shrugged. "As alright as I ever am. I'm sorry I was being such a..." he tried to find the right words. "Over protective basterd?" she smiled when he popped her rear lightly. "No you weren't...you were just being a father." she hugged him tighter. Mozenrath sighed and pulled her up onto the windowsill to rest on his lap. "So what comes next m'love?" Chroias shrugged. "Who knows...we could always start by cleaning out the old lab..." she snickered as Mozenrath groaned. "Well it does need to be redone and now that Zak's on his own he will be needing some equipment." Mozenrath frowned. "Yes...very well....I'll have Nef clean it out tomorrow." He felt a sharp jolt of pain as Chroias's hand landed none to gently across his rear. "What!!" he looked her in the eyes. "Fine..I'll go down there tomorrow and HELP you two clean it out." Chapter 319 (by Nefret) A low voice came from behind a heavy cast green door. "May he rot!" Nefret hissed and leaned against the door, staring in awe at the piles and piles of junk that no earthly creature could need. For and Egyptian it was the worst wish to ask for, and never had Nefret implied it to Mozenrath, though all the horrid things he had done. Not till now. For this bright idea he deserved oblivion. The old lab was an impressive room, or could have been and would have been had it not fallen into such disrepair. The floor was like that of a mirror so that to walk on it you'd be afraid of sinking into the reflection. now it was covered in a good layer of brown/gray dust and only mirror like footprint were left as Nefret awaited the others. There were tables, and book shelves, and beakers, vials, strange workings of metal and wood, boxes, globes, crystals, jars and jars of bizarre contents, leafs of paper, and remains of some unspeakable animal in small cages. The room hadn't been cleaned in years and the smell of still water and choking dust collided in the air as the door swung upon. Nefret shifted the red turban she had wrapped about her head and set a finger on a stack of strange carved sticks, instantly they fell in shambles on the floor, a few fell apart at the disturbance. The sounds of the lord and lady of the house floated nearer to the doorway. They appeared in the door a second later and the look of apprehension shown on their face as they looked around. Neither of them remembered the room being this bad before, but since they had last left it the mess had seemed to breed. Ever the logical one Moze set out his plan. "We will make two piles. things to be resorted and one to go to Zak." "May I suggest a third?" Nef piped up. Glad to have someone ready for his plan Moze nodded for her to continue. "We'll call it 'useless crap' and just put EVERYTHING in it!" His face fell and he turned away, ignoring her existence on the earth. "Just hold something up and I'll tell you were it goes." And so Mozenrath's plan worked rather well, surprising given his track record. There were soon two heaping piles, carefully stacked and sorted, ready to be either re-archived into the old lab or to go to Zak. And yes even a small pile of 'useless crap' that Nefret took great pride in. "Hey! I didn't know we had one of these!" Chroias sprung up form behind a desk holding a metal swan that sprang to life and played a pleasant melody through the plucking of the metal feathers on it's outcast wing. Moze smiled at it and motioned to the 'to keep' pile. Nef sorted though a box of small crystals, dividing them as she had been told by clarity and color. Mozenrath, doing his part, dusted off what was to be kept, but mostly he dawdled and played with things he forgot he owned. Now that the smaller things were cleared the group moved on to the bulkier objects. Large caldrons were put on their side and rolled to a more suitable place, tables pulled out and dusted, and heavy pieces of furniture moved. All present put their back into moving a large cabinet to be chopped for kindling. The dust rolled into the air as the cabinet hesitantly moved away from the corner it had been catty cornered in. As it's shadow was pulled back Chroias peered into the dark corner. Now showing was a set of flat bed boards, set upright at an angle. A simple looking enough contraption with two metal cuffs at each side of the boards. "Well hello there." She breathed to no one inperticular. Moze raised an eyebrow and cocked a head to see. "Oh that." He growled. Nef joined them and tapped on the contraption. "And what's an evil lab without an evil streatcher!" she leaned back against the angled board and put her arms across her chest and hung her head to the side with tongue sticking out as if dead. Moze, glad for the distraction, chuckled and leaned against the other board, casually setting his arms at the side as the locks strapped themselves over his lower arms. "No no, like this. See?" he instructed. "Oh." Nefret followed suit and laughed as the straps locked down. Chroias rub her hands together and hunched her back, getting in the fun. "Their alive alive!!" She cried in an insane voice and did a little jig, knocking a stack of book over, which in turn fell upon a lever. "Oops" All at once the room seemed to fill with colors and the air charged. The smell of Nile mud mixed with sandalwood along with the smell of the eastern woods after the rain mixed with the velvet smell of darkness burst into the air and then evaporated. All was deadly still for a moment before Mozenrath and Nefret opened their eyes, looked at Chroias and then at each other. Bewilderment evident in their eyes. ((As a memo...to help avoid confusion in further chapters, if a characters name is done like this: Nef/Moze that means it is Nefret's spirit in Moze's body. If it is Moze/Nef, then it is Moze's spirit in Nefret's body. Consequentially, The body of Moze will have Nef's voice and the body of Nef will have Moze's voice. Lets hope you can keep up till then)) Chapter 320 (by Chroias) Within a few second both Nefret and Mozenrath had collapsed on the floor, out cold. Chroias rushed to their side. "Nef! Moze...guys are you okay?" she called out and started feeling frightened. A quick assessment of the two calmed her. They were out colder then snow, but alive and breathing normally, so nothing could be too wrong. Sighing she hauled Nefret up on her shoulder and took her back to her bedroom, brushing the Egyptians hair aside and covering her in a blanket. Next came Mozenrath. As Chroias hefted her lover onto her shoulders she made a short 'oofing' sound. "Honey.. after this...you go..." she started up the stairs. "On...a diet!" she growled and put the unconscious sorcerer on the bed. "Well...at least now you can't tell me your busy." she chuckled and slipped his clothing off, tossing it down the laundry shoot. She tickled his rib cage for a moment and left a glass of water beside the bed stand. "I suppose I'm going to be the one stuck cleaning the rest of the lab. If I didn't know better I'd think you'd orcastrated this intentionally!" she scolded and tickled much lower then his rib cage. Mozenrath shifted slightly and mumbled something. Chroias chuckeled, stood and walked towards the door, blowing him a kiss goodnight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nefret woke up and groaned. Her head was killing her! Even her spine felt like it was about to break in two with the slightest touch. "Chroias!' she moaned out and rubbed her face. Her hand suddenly stopped still. She felt over the firm full lips, then over the rather large nose. Then over the wide, almond eyes and onto the limply curl hair. With every fiber of her being she dreaded the next move. Keeping her eyes closed, Nefret looked down. And promptly covered herself with the sheets. Nef let out a long, low whimper. "Oh nonono!" she covered her eyes and stood up, wrapping the sheets around her. Slowly she made her way to the bathroom and stood, eyes closed in front of the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes wide. And stared into the face of Mozenrath. From the thick black hair to the bone hand down to the ...feet. Mozenrath. The urge to scream was killing her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mozenrath stood up at the side of the bed. "What the.." he looked around at the mix and match decorated room. "What am I doing in Nefret's room?" he wondered allowed and took a step forward. "And why am I so damn hungry all of the sudden?" his stomach growled. He put his hand to his tummy and frowned. "And I'm gaining weight!" he looked down past the two well shaped breasts... Mozenrath did a double take. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anubis slapped his paw out at an 'attacking' Mepho, knocking the kitten to the ground and holding him there. The small devil played with the paw, nipping and biting at it as Chroias plodded down the stairs. The demoness scooped her kitten up and hugged him gently, patting Anubis on the head. "Your mistress is in a spot of trouble. Might want to go up there and comfort her." she nodded upstairs and Anubis, ever the intelligent one, trotted up the stairs." And as for you you little trouble maker..!" she winced as Mepho clawed at her earrings. "You and I are going to make Nef and Moze some soup!" Mepho chuckled in his mind. 'If I'm correct, then that magical explosion I just heard upstairs is going to mean a whole LOT of fun around here!' he laughed outright and nearly coughed a hairball when Chroias plopped him down, her red eyes boring into his. "Did you just say something?" she looked into those mischievous green eyes and Mepho gave her a kittenish grin. "You did just say something..."she murmured. "Or maybe I just inhaled too much smoke from that blast..."she shook her head and groaned. 'Or maybe your finally starting to come about...'Mepho whispered to himself and again smirked when he saw her head turn in confusion. Chapter 321 (by Nefret) Anubis skipped up the stairs, his head bobbing and tongue hung out the side of his mouth as most dogs look when climbing up staircases. Having reached the summit he turned the corner and trotted down the hallway, the pillars passing him in a blur, the dog being single minded. With a quick nudge of his nose the door to the Red Room cracked open enough for the wirery dog to slip though. The plum headed girl stood in front of the full length mirror, muttering incoherently and tugging at her cheeks and hair. Anubis cocked his head at her unusual movements. She leaned in close to the mirror, right into her own eyes before rearing back and growling, spinning on her heels from the reflection and waving her fists to the sky. He was used to his mistresses cursing and liability to be on the aggravated side, but never at. herself. Moze/Nef took in a deep breath while combing fingers though his hair. now volumus in masses of curls wrapped around each other. he just had to calm down, just calm down. Worst-case scenario: he was in the body of his minion, he was a woman. at that Moze/Nef slapped his hands to his new wide mocha face and muffled a long whine. His noise was emulated by the dog as it licked the back of his mistresses knee. Moze/Nef jumped and screamed out, "Away from me dog!" The voice roared out of the feminine soft throat, powerful and masculine. It was his normal voice, not Nef's low honey ring. "Well at least I get to keep one thing my own." Moze/Nef muttered as he shifted his legs. ** Anubis fled the room. It looked like Nef, smelled like Nef, but didn't sound like Nef.. This would confuse even the smartest dog. Nose to the ground he followed the human trail to the master bedroom where he found the person of Mozenrath wearing a track into the carpet as he went hither and thither, not sure of what to do. Currently he noticed the sheet had long since fell off in the path behind him. With a little 'eep' the boy ran to the armoire and tore thought the clothing, finally pulling out a long robe that seemed to contain enough material to suit him. Anubis approached carefully, for he was not in the custom of being in close company with the sorcerer, but he had a feeling this time he wouldn't mind. Sure enough the male crouched down and hugged his neck. "Yes it's me boy." Came the low honey ring the dog knew so well. "Forgive me, I'm not quite myself today." Nef/Moze chuckled, on the verge of trashing the room, and stood back up. Nef/Moze teetered a bit, she wasn't used to being so damn tall! The floor seemed so far away and her center of gravity was now in a grossly different place. Not to mention there was a slight ache in her right hand. Anyone who would live with it long enough would not notice it anymore, but it was driving her to all ends. A thought occurred to her, if she had Mozenrath's body then hers was.. Apparently both switchies got the thought at the same time, for they nearly knocked each other down as they raced in the hallway to see one another. Moze/Nef growled and reached out to grab his minion by the shoulders, as he normally would to reprimand her, yet he found it was a long reach. With a gulp he looked up. His own body stood towering head and shoulders above him. By Allah he had forgotten what it was like to be so much sorter than someone. Not since childhood had he had to look that far up! Yet he now resided in Nef's body and saw from her perspective. If he hadn't been in such direr straits he would have noticed that from this view he was quiet intimidating, and taken pride in that thought. Nefret blanched for a moment as she looked down to her own body, now standing in front of her. We all see our own mirrors reflection but it's just so much different this way. Perhaps is she had not been in this situation she might try judging the size of her rump in a more effective way than craning her head around to look into the mirror, but than again her butt was the last thing on her mind then. Both of them pointed at each other and voiced simultaneously "It's me!" Then their faces fell at the sound of the voices. "Its you!" They stood silently for a moment, pointing at each other and staring dumbly. Slowly Moze/Nef opened his mouth A sound came from the stair, shooting terror into both of them. Oh boy would Chroias find this funny. With a panicked look Nef/Moze reached out and grabbed the smaller person that was now Mozenrath and pulled him into the closest room. Moze/Nef sputtered and struggled, not used to someone being able to out power him as such. The door was shut behind them and they began to pace in circles in thought, Moze/Nef rubbing his chin and Nef/Moze rubbing her now gauntleted hand. "Okay okay. we've just accidentally switched souls.Souls are the essence of a person, therefore I am still Mozenrath!" He seemed to brighten at that though. "No matter if I'm in the horrid state of womanhood I'm still the master of this house and." He thought out loud before Nefret took offence and grabbed him by the shirt front, which had much more dramatic effect now that she was bigger than Moze. "Horrid state?" She growled out though clenched teeth. "Oh no offence on your being, it's just that being male is superior." He stated as if it was common fact. His deep voice sounded so odd coming from the plump painted lips. Nef/Moze felt like punching him right in his shiny lined eye. but therein was the problem it wasn't his eye it was hers, and when she returned to her own body (which she determined would happen come hell or high water) She rather not deal with injuries she caused herself. Quickly she let him go. "Your words are as the buzzing of flies in my ears." She huffed and moved away. Moze/Nef clenched his fists and grabbed arm. "I don't care who's body I have I'm still master here!" He ordered, wavering a bit as he looked up to her eyes. Quickly he set his foot stern again. "I am Lord Mozenrath greatest sorcerer of our age and I will have my gauntlet now!" He thrust out his hand. Nef/Moze backed away and glared. "You shall not put that thing on MY body! I wont end up like YOU!" She cried and pointed her borrowed right hand. Moze/Nef crossed his arms, he hated to admit but she was right, he couldn't ask such a thing of her. Suddenly he grimaced and whined to her. "Will you kindly explain why I feel so hungry even though lunch was not even two hours ago! How much fuel do you need to keep this Volts Wagon of yours going?" Nef/Moze scowled at the insult as to her weight. "Oh look at me I'm Mozenrath the twig." She cried out in a high mocking voice while striking dainty poses and swinging her body as a woman does, for she knew no other way to move. "Look now I'm a piece of paper, a blade of grass, now I'm a stick." Moze/Nef grimaced as he watched her move his body with a bobbing head, limp wrist, and shifting her weight with graceful moves, which would have suited her woman body just fine, but on his body it just looked.. "Will you stop!?" With that sudden out cry Nef/Moze stopped, they both huffed and looked away for a moment, simmering in silence. Moze/Nef grumbled and absently shifted one side of his new chest, for he was not used to the.. Extras he now carried. This brought Nef back to a boil "Get your hand off those!" She raged and stamped her foot. Moze/Nef gave her a mocking face and shifted them both, shaking them at her direction quickly and sticking out his tongue. Nefret was in his face in a second, huffing and trying to control herself. "You may be borrowing it for a while Moze but all that is mine and I still have jurisdiction over it!" She pointed a finger inches away from his face. "I don't even want you looking down when dressing!" Moze/Nef smiled, a smart-ass smile, and tugged at the sleeve of the robe. "Well I wasn't wearing this earlier. I'm taking it you've had occasion to look down." A positively evil grin spread over the painted lips. A blush of anger. yes of anger I'm sure of it, rose in her cheeks and she pulled back a fist, not carrying if she would be denting her own face. With impeccable timing Chroias knocked once and opened the door, caring a tray of soup. Both occupants of the room eep'ed and tried to act normal. Chapter 322 (by Chroias) Chroias opened the door, her back turned as she carried the tray in and spun on a clawed heel. "Well there you two are." she murmured. "Help a demon out will ya!" she groaned and struggled with both keeping the door open and holding the tray. Just as it began to spill, a gloved hand shot out, steadying it." Well..." Chroias said in surprise. "Thank you..." she smiled and kissed Nef/Moze's lips lightly. A short half growlish sound came from Moze/Nef. The body of the sorcerer turned around suddenly and grinned. It was an odd sort of grin. It was on Moze's face, but had just a touch of Nef's cheeky smart-assishness around the corners. Suddenly "Mozenrath" took the tray politely from Roi and sat it on a table, sweeping her into his arms and kissing her passionately. Now there was a definite growl from "Nefret" .She suddenly gave a determined strut over to the sorcerer and shocked demon, seperating the both of them. "Alright alright!" Moze/Nef yelled out loud and suddenly remembered her voice. "Umm..." Moze/Nef gulped as Chroias looked at her oddly and Nef/Moze tried not to giggle. "Nefret" made a pretense of rubbing her throat. "The dust..." she explained. "It's got to me..." Chroias waved her clawed hand. "No biggie. A bath will clear that right up. I'll even let you borrow my sandalwood oil..." Moze/Nef smiled, directing it more at "Mozenrath." "Yes I think a bath would do me much good" The sorcerer's body suddenly pushed between them to. "No..." surprisingly enough the voice DID sound a bit like Moze's...not exactly, but not a bad try either. "I think Nef still has plenty of work to take care of in the lab." Chroias smiled and simply pressed herself a little closer to Moze. "Silly sorcerer. She can take a break..."The look on Moze/Nef's face turned to a grin. Chroias sniffed the robe suddenly and grimaced. "And so could you." she waved her hand in front of her nose. "I don't know what exploded down there but the BOTH of you need some serious scrubbing!" The look on "Mozenrath's" face looked exactly like what "Nef's" had been. "He" passed a now-we're-both-in-the-same-boat look. "Nefret" gave a stiff nod. "Well I suppose we do need baths..."she sniffed her clothing and made an ugh face. "Badly..."she turned and looked angrily at "Mozenrath", waiting for a moment as her face scrunched slightly. "If we can both promise to say NOTHING about it later." Nef/Moze nodded slightly, but with a slight grin. "Why Nef...you act as though something might be...inadequate about this situation." Chroias cocked an eyebrow at the both of them. "Do I even WANT to know?" she murmured. As both of them began to answer she held up a hand. "Nope! I'm positive I don't." she gestured to the bathrooms.. "Now for the love of Zeus the BOTH of you go get washed up!" She turned to walk away and suddenly grabbed Moze's arm. He'd been heading for Nef's bathroom. Again she arched a brow and "Moze" merely gave her a cheekish smile. "Ummm..oops?" he smiled lightly as Chroias dragged the body of Mozenrath from the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moze/Nef sighed and looked about. Mozenrath had never really had a reason to look about in the room before and meandered about, curiously poking at his minion's things. "Where does she keep a robe?" he opened a drawer and pulled out a silky piece of undergarments of such a design that his eyes widened. He hastily shoved it back and closed the drawer, promising not to open it again. He checked the closets and fund a suitable white robe with small symbols on it that was obviously meant for bathing materials and began to take it down. As the robe came off the hook a small package fell at his feet. The hands of Nefret picked it up immediately and inspected it. It was nothing special looking, just a simple leather bound book wrapped up tight with a purple cord. Despite the fact that it was Nefret's, Moze's insatiable and hereditary curiosity got the better of him. "The Diary of Merit..." The name rung familiar and he flipped through the pages a little, waiting for it to click. A certain page had rather excitedly punctuated hieroglyphs and he paused for a moment to glance them. "My child is born. She is as beautiful as the violets of a sun set with the hair to match. I can feel my body growing weaker...My child suckles at my breast as I write these words. She is strong and healthy. I shall not live much longer...but I shall give her a name..." Mozenrath closed the journal and wrapped the cord around it again. He had no need to read further to know who it had belonged to. A cold feeling crept over the mocha skin and "Nef" shivered. "Her mother cared about her...wish I could say the same about mine... " He cut the thought off. No time for pity...not now. Sighing, Moze/Nef headed for the bathroom and began to undress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chroias groaned as the messenger demon handed her the message. "Are you sure this is ABSOLUTLY necessary?" she questioned the ugly little troll thing. It nodded. "Absolutely. Your father needs you on this one. The Styx is flooded with souls thanks to the recent Minotour slaying..." Chroias waved away the explanation. "Very well.. I'll leave my friends a note..." she quickly scribbled a message down on a sheet of paper. "Hopefully they'll get the idea." she groaned. "Daddy owes me big." Mepho suddenly hopped onto her shoulders as she began to walk out the double doors of the Citadel. "And where do you think your going?" she smirked and the kitten mimicked her gesture. "I still say you spoke to me you little devil." she murmured as a claw played with her earring. "Take care of 'em Anubis." she kissed the mutt good-by and headed for Tarturus. Chapter 323 (by Nefret) Little known fact: bodies are haunted. Like grand master houses of the soul they pick up resonate vibrations and soak up the atmosphere till every cell has it's own memory. And as with haunted houses new owners are not immune to the lingering tones that course from the body. Nef/Moze hummed, as she closed the door, so light was the haunting that she barely registered it, but it did in fact feel different to be Mozenrath. Now that she was alone she felt an odd chill, a forlorn feeling without being lonely perhaps. so hard to explain yet she narrowed her eyes, cast them down and ran a hand though her hair with slumped shoulders. With a sigh Nef/Moze cast out one now pale leg and started into the room. Mozenrath's changing room was elegant and handsome. She ran a gloved finger over the beveled edges of marble tables and the plush pillowing of upholstered stools. Only the best. While Nef was treated well her furnishings weren't to these standers. So she enjoyed the luxury she was borrowing. The soaps and bath oils smelled of heavy dark spice, eastern forests, and other such masculine scents. Not quite to her taste, and she considered going to get her own toiletries, but if Moze objected to her fliting his body here and there like a dancer he certainly wouldn't like her coming out of the bath carrying his body and smelling like Lotus blossoms. Laughing at the entire situation she slipped off the robe, careful not to look anywhere that wasn't absolutely necessary and spurning the mirror. She only hoped Mozenrath would be so kind. Breathing deep she slipped off the gauntlet and stopped.. Did anything ever look so different.. Mozenrath's hand had become mundane to her, but now she realized it was only because he kept it masked most of the time and because she could simply forget about it. Now it was hers and she could not cover it and forget it, she could not turn her eyes from it and pretend it wasn't there for the ache it caused, and she could not get away from it. For the first time since she first saw it she felt repulsed by the appendage and her stomach heaved as to jump from her throat. And then she closed her eyes, feeling guilty for her reaction. Who was she to feel so put upon when Mozenrath had carried this hand for years? No pity for Mozenrath, not ever! She had promised that, and Mozenrath would have slapped her if she ever did pity him. Perhaps she only now understood him a tiny bit better. "Walk a mile in a man's shoes." She smiled slightly as she slipped into the water, for whoever coined that phrase would have never envisioned it lived out so fully. **** Moze/ Nef hummed and slipped from the water, slipping in turn into the robe. Humming to himself he strolled back into the dressing room, in the adjoining Red Room Anubis raised his head from the bed and trotted down to see him. The dog was still most curious about this whole thing and still sought the attentions of Nefret's hands and old familiar things. "I still say that is the oddest place for a birthmark." Moze chuckled and dried his now purple hair. Quietly he wondered if he should put on makeup, for the old had washed off and, he noted as he looked in the mirror, Nefret's face looked almost foreign to him without black-rimmed eyes. But the had a foreboding that it would be a disaster, a big messy disaster so he left well enough alone. "Now for some clothing so Neffie doesn't slap me." Moze/Nef flung upon the closet and pulled one of her split side skirts halfway out. He rubbed the material between his now mocha fingers and grimaced. To a boy used to silks even second and third grade Egyptian linen felt rough. Her wrap top felt even rougher even though to anyone less discerning it would have thought it a fine garment. With a huff he flung open the chest containing old dresses from Egypt, muttering that somewhere she had to have something good enough to suit his standards, after all those shopping trips Chroias took her on that leached his pockets. The few fine quality linen dresses were, as Egyptian fashion prescribed, near see though. Another Egyptian dress that had been in great fashion in Nef's homeland was suitably soft but for the fact that from the waist down the front was open... "What are these people thinking?!" He huffed and shoved them back into the chest. Never again should a man complain about the length of time a woman takes to dress, for even the male minded Mozenrath took half an hour to find an outfit that he was happy with for his new female body. Nef/Moze was already down in the great hall, picking up the note, when Moze/Nef came down the stairs dressed in her one of her open front dresses which he had made appropriate by wearing her valumounus riding pants. As for Nef she had felt odd when she contemplated his fancy and pretentious customary outfit and so spurned it and choose crisp linen billowing pants under a straight lined tunic, both of a soft and clean black color. Nef/Moze opened her mouth as if to say something, but "Nefret" raised a hand to silence her and spoke in his deep voice. "Never to speak of it." Nef/Moze nodded and turned back to the note. "By Set and all the Devils sometimes I think that maybe, just maybe, we haven't fallen completely out of favor with the great gods." She sighed and handed Moze/Nef the note. He smiled also, if not a bit sad. "Well at least things will be easier now and we may drop this pretense." He stood proud and put his hands on his hips, looking with his old air even if he was in the body of his minion. He would be master of this house yet, and shall not give up his position, his possession, or his routine even if he lived it for now with the body of a slave. Nef/moze huffed and mockingly raised her hands in reverence and fear. "Oh yes great master. What shall we do now?" Moze/Nef paid no attention to her mockery. "The only thing we can do." He raised a finger into the air and puffed up his chest. "To the study!" Chapter 324 (by Chroias) Moze/Nef reached for a book on the sixth shelf and grimaced when he realized that it was unobtainable. He checked around behind him and saw his body comfortable nestled in a chair and reading through a Soul Transference for Dummies book. A scathing comment would have made him feel better, but he didn't want Nef realizing that he couldn't reach a bloody book. Crouching down a little, Moze/Nef jumped for the book. Unfortunetly "her" fingers barely grazed the bottom of the shelf. Huffing, Moze turned back around to make sure that Nef was still focused on the book. Again he crouched and made a higher jump. This time the tips of Nef's nails scrapped the spine of the hard leather cover. The book edged out a little, but didn't move enough. As Moze/Nef prepared to make another jump, a gloved hand shot out above the purple head and grabbed the book, taking it from the sixth shelf with ease and handing it down to the shorter person. "Need a hand?" Nef/Moze inquired and received only a short and ill intentioned mutter in return. Nef merely patted her body on the head and smiled at the look of death she was given. Moze/Nef thumbed through the book as she tried to concentrate. The growling in her stomach was absolutely frustrating. He grimaced and tried to continue working until again a gloved hand appeared with an apple. Again a murmur as he took the apple and nodded thanks to Nef/Moze. Damn this body and it's quirks. Nefret was noticing that her new body had it's own problems. To start with, Mozenrath's frame wasn't used to the style of sitting she preferred, Indian style with her legs all nice and crisscrossed. The muscles protested as she stood to take a look at another book. And then there was that aching in the glove. At first it had been a dull thudding, like someone hitting you with a pillow, but the pain was grating on her nerves now. It ached up and down as if protesting to the new essence involved in it's cycle. Nef/Moze removed the glove and rubbed the bone hand. Her bottom lip trembled. Moze caught the all to familiar grimace on his lush lips. He felt a twisting in his gut. The gauntlet knew that the essence in there wasn't the one it was used to. It was having the same reaction that white blood cells would to a foreign object. It was attacking. He walked over without thinking and took the boned hand in the slender mocha fingers in the same fashion Nefret had done for him so long ago. The shock on his own face was an amazing thing to see as he caressed the bleached digit till he felt the magic pressure in them relax. Nef/Moze waited patiently as the hand was massaged. A suddenly blush rose to her body's cheeks as Moze/Nef pulled away. Moze/Nef settled her stomach. Apparently Nef's body DID have an attraction to him...No...not an attraction...it didn't go that deep. More of..a care. The kind of feeling rushing through Nefret's body wasn't the typical male to female attraction. It was like one from a friend to a friend. The kind that you feel when someone you care deeply about is in pain. It made the body twitchy and worried. It wasn't something Mozenrath was used to feeling for anyone. Nefret saw the blush on her own cheeks and tried to figure it out. "Hey Moze...are you okay?" she asked gently. Moze/Nef waved it off. "Fine...stop stalling and get back to work!" he ordered, still the same ole Moze. Nefret scooped up the gauntlet off the floor and stared at it for a few moments, unwilling to put it back on. She tucked it into the belt and felt a slight ache return steadily to his hand. Nefret made a mental note to get some warm rags and a bit of opium for later. Mozenrath returned to the book and flipped through the pages silently for a few moments. It was a basic essence reference book, nothing exotic or out of the ordinary. "Misplaces souls. See Soul Transference." He groaned and flipped the pages. "Ahha!!" Nef/Moze looked over. "Did you find something?" "Not just something..." Moze/Nef took the book and searched frantically for a sheet of paper. Once that was procured, a feather pen came up. Mozenrath growled. He grimaced which still looked adorable on Nef's pudgy face. "We need a Truth Mirror." Nef/Moze scrunched up her nose. "A wha...?" Mozenrath smirked. "A mirror that shows the truth behind appearances. My mother was ever so kind enough to allow Aladdin to procure one a few years ago." he shrugged his shoulders. "With any luck he still has it hanging around." "Aladdin..."Mozenrath's face turned a slightly red color. "But that means we'll have to go to..." "Agrabah." Chapter 325 (by Nefret) Nef/Moze shook her head as Moze/Nef held out his hand, well her hand. whatever. "Nu huh. To risky." She said firmly. Moze/Nef huffed and dropped his hand. "Listen, I should still be able to use my magic no mater what body I'm in. The teleportation should be just as safe as it has always been. Now for the sake of Allah take my hand!" he jutted it out again. Nef pulled the lips of Mozenrath into a 'well just see' mope and took his hand. "That's better." Moze/Nef smiled proudly and flung his arm up. Nothing happened. Confused he looked at the arm his face fell. "Oh.. No cape." He mumbled. To her credit Nef/Moze held in a mocking laugh that was just killing her. Instead she draped a throw around him retook his hand. Trying again Moze/Nef whipped it up in a satisfying swish of fabric was gone.. Leaving Nef/Moze, who had smartly let go of his hand a second before, still in the library. Sighing she inspected her nails and counted down, "Three.. Two." Moze/Nef reappeared in the doorway growling. "I ended up beside the accursed Nile! And on the way back landed in the pantry!" Nef/Moze smiled pleasantly. "The heart wants what it wants." She sighed and breathed deep for he did now smell of fresh Nile mud. Moze/Nef raised a finger and shook it, mouth working in odd directions, as if he wanted to say something. Finally he gave up the ghost and turned swiftly on heels. "We're taking horses!" *** The horses slowed to a trot as they left the desert and entered building lined streets. Nef/Moze scratched the back of her head and gulped. Moze/Nef continued to ramble on. "..so don't let the cat out of the bag on this one! Oh if that street rat was to know that I'm now trapped in the common body of a slave girl.." He grimaced. "You seem to have my voice down pretty well, just act like me. Got it?" Nef's own sharp eyes shot a masterful glace at her. She had a hundred insults waiting on her tongue but relented, simply nodding. "I suppose I'll either have to learn to talk like you or keep quiet.. no keeping quiet is out of character, they'll know something's up. hum lets see. *clears throat* by Hathor! No that's not quiet it. *hack, weez* hey stick boy. almost. *throatier voice* yes 'o kind and merciful master. hey I think I got it. I don't know, what do you think Nef.. Did it sound like you. Nef?" Nef/Moze had stopped listening long ago, she only worried the reigns of her horse. "Uh yeah, sure thing." She muttered and waved the matter off. Suddenly she turned to Moze and slowed the horse. "You know you might just want to stay away from Aladdin." Moze/Nef gave an odd questioning look. Nef/Moze turned and started back up the street. "Just a thought. That it might be easier if you just didn't get into a situation where you would be alone.. or talk. at all." "Why Neffie, I do believe being male has gone to your head. Still you are in no position to order me." And with that he pulled his horse ahead and led her on. At the palace gate they were allowed in and announced. Both transferees seemed jittery as they waited to be taken to the throne room. But they could pull this off. Allah and Hathor bidding. A broad smile was plastered across the hero's face as they entered, real or face, that was unknown. "ah Agrabah's closest alliances!" He greeted. Moze/Nef swaggered in and waved his salutations away. "No need for formalities street rat." The performance was near on point! Aladdin laughed grimly at "Mozenrath" and sat back down. "Of course, never one for formalities." He turned his gaze on Nef, an odd gaze. "Neither, as I recall, is your minion." And something glinted in his eye, something Moze/Nef caught but was unable to identify, still it unnerved him. Taking Nef's normal lax pose Moze/Nef smiled slightly and pulled his now painted and plump lips into a smirk. "More riddles than the sphinx." Another performance near the target! Aladdin smiled again, one that unnerved him even more. "Well since you never come for friendly visits I'm taking it you need something?" Al sighed, only half annoyed by their appearance. "Not as dumb as we appear!" 'Mozenrath' chuckled. "Yes, we have a little request for something possibly held in your possession." Al raised a hand quickly to silence them. "True enough. And it's probably something of great value?" he didn't wait for an answer before rising, talking as he approached them. His form was slightly rambling but the swaggering way with which it was delivered was truly kinglike. He would twist this to his advantage yet. "Well then we can't exactly just relinquish it now can we? We'll have to hold a few counsels. I'm sure we can work something out. And if it is as you say, that I MIGHT have it, I will probably have to look for it a while. All this could take. days! So," He stopped and grinned broadly, a grin that seemed be, oddly enough to the sorcerer, cast at Nef. "You'll have to be our guest again for some time. No no, no arguments. I insist!" And with that he patted 'Nefret's' hand between his when 'she' raised it in protest. There was that glint in his eyes again. Moze/Nef gulped as his cheeks flushed and his heart speed up as if he'd just raced a mile. He searched for an answer.. One other than 'he was crazy.' It was this body! Nef's body... Moze had no time to dwell on his before they were ushered away to their rooms. Chapter 326 (by Chroias) Moze/Nef paced in his room. It was of course separate from Nefret's, but still that was a benefit. It allowed him time to think without interruption. He munched on a pastry and felt his stomach settled down. There were many thoughts that should have come to mind, but only one did. The one concerning Nefret's body's reaction to Aladdin's smile. THAT was a reaction between male and female due to attraction. Of course logic did contribute itself. Mozenrath was forced to admit that Aladdin WAS a handsome man. He couldn't truly blame Nefret's body for being attracted to him. 'The little slut.' He mused and grimaced. It was a horrid thing to say. Nefret wasn't really a slut, her culture was just expressive about their feelings. Still, he didn't like the way that smile from the hero had made the body react. He especially didn't like the sudden...sensation...that had drifted to certain areas. Just thinking it made the stomach flip flop again. Mozenrath shook and continued his thoughts until the door opened. His body walked in, looking rather nervous at that. Nef/Moze simply smiled and grabbed one of the creamy pastries for herself. "Umm yummy." she smirked and bit into one. Moze/Nef shook her finger. "Don't you go putting my body into the same sorry shape yours is in!" he snatched the for the pastry and nearly lost it when Nef simply raised her hand, bringing the sweet treat well out of her fingers reach. "Your body is already in sorry shape! Not due to eating pastries but rather for lack of eating period!" Nef/Moze smiled and a sudden thought came to her. "You know..."she smirked and looked down at her frame. "..I'm actually kind of glad this happened." Moze/Nef growled. "Why...so you can be taller then me and ruin my fine figure?" Nefret merely smirked. "No silly...because guess what time of the month it is for my body right now?" Mozenrath sat down...hard. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jasmine walked past the room Nefret was in and tried not to hate the girl. Her son was suckling comfortably at a bottle. She pushed a bit of hair from his face and cooed at the child. He looked so much like Aladdin. Whispy curls of poofy hair already crowned his head. The shape of his face and the shape of his lips also bore resemblance to his father. But the almond eyes and nose came from her side of the family. She knew Aladdin still loved her. He told her so and proved it at every oppertunity. The times he'd saved her, the things he'd done for her. Not a piece of his body mind or soul had the capacity to make her feel unloved or unwanted. He showed the same affection to their child. Aladdin loved her, she was positive. But was it possible that he loved Nefret too... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mozenrath moaned as a cramp racked her body. "Oh...." several curses in old Farsi were sputtered out and he bent over, holding his stomach. 'I guess this makes up for Nef having to deal with the gauntlets pain.' he groaned and tried to stand up, only to feel a sharp pain and sit back down again. When Chroias had made Mozenrath into a female, her powers had removed all the nifty little things like periods and menstrual cramps and such. Now, for the first time, Mozenrath was experiencing why women always got so damn testy about once a month. A whimper escaped his throat. 'How in the HELL did Nefret deal with this crap!' He was tempted to go and ask the Egyptian, but wouldn't submit himself to seeing another smirk from that damn face. His damn face. 'No wonder she's always trying to punch me...' Another cramp tore through and Mozenrath lied down flat on the bed. Chapter 327 (by Nefret) Moze/Nef craned her neck back to stare at the fabric billowing from the vaulted ceiling. She was unused to receiving such fine rooms for her stay. Secretly she chuckled, for she knew the horror that was falling upon Mozenrath this hour, she knew her own body above all. She had also seen the blush on her own face when Aladdin had taken her hand, which was now in the possession of Mozenrath. Oh it was horrid horrid horrid! Nefret smiled broadly at that and drummed her fingers together despite the pain of the gauntlet. At that moment the smell of incense drifted into her fine room though the grand window and transported her back to a better time, a more innocent time when she roamed the perfumed halls of the life house of Hathor and was not evil and held no such contempt for people. How this life had hardened her! Never 10 years ago was she so cold, she had been warm yet ever sarcastic, and she didn't fear open emotion as she did now. She had been taught that fear. Nefret longed to be that young girl again, happy and free as she moved though the pillar lined hallways. However, young days slip by fast, and are hard to recapture in their full glory. She had grown old before her time, her heart jaded and head hardened. Nef/Moze sat down heavily. Maybe it was just this thin gangly body that made feel this way, either way it gnawed at her. *** Moze/Nef made a mulling sound and turned over in a ball, no sleep would come to him though he ached for it. The pain was inescapable and followed his every movement. Softly he panicked as the mattress beside him indented and the sheets rustled as someone sat down to his left. "It's only me." Came a soft low female voice. Moze/Nef felt relief and horror seize him all at once. With a sneer he turned to see his own body sitting beside him in the darkness. In the dim light of the moon he could see his own countenance turned in profile to him looking more peaceful than he ever imagined he could look. It was amazing to his himself that way, with no secret worry on his face, no crease in his brow and his mouth in a lazy peaceful smile. He himself could never put his face that way. Wavering he turned back around, for the sight was almost frightening. "What do you want?" Nef/Moze took a hot towel and arranged it on the small of the mocha back, which she bared for it was her own and she held no shame for it. "Your in pain. I know how to help best." It was so simple, and no insult was hidden in the words. Moze/Nef felt his muscles clench and he made to protest but Nefret suddenly grazed her fingers at the nape of his neck lightly over and over again, and immediately his eyelids fell heavy and all this limbs went lax. Damn this body and its quirks. They stayed for a while that way, Nef/Moze changing the towels over to new and hotter one every now and then until the pain eased. Then they simply stared into darkens. However, quiet moments like these between them never lasted long. In a lazy voice Moze/Nef ventured the question, for he was quite relaxed now. "You like the streetrat?" Nef/Moze felt her cheeks blaze. "It's none of your concern!" She growled out and balled the towels together. "It is. You are my slave and I have exclusive rights over ALL your life!" Moze/Nef grew angry now, relaxation fading and pain returning. "You always seem to forget you're a slave!" He turned suddenly causing Nef/Moze to jump off the bed and storm about. "And who has the weight of the anklet pulling at their leg now! Huh?" She pointed a gloved finger at him and shook it. "Now you feel it! Now you feel the weight of slavery pulling at you. Do you understand yet?" She sneered. "Of course not. You've never known oppression." Moze/Nef huffed. "Oh no?" The words wavered on his trembling lips. Nef shot a look at him and then, remembering and feeling guilty, raised her arms up and turned, not able to look at her own body anymore. Just about this time Aladdin had come up to the closed door and stopped once he heard the voices inside. The voices of Mozenrath and Nefret. Grimacing at the volume he pressed an ear in to listen. Nef/Moze crossed her arms and shivers. "You're a horrible man." She flinched, for the words were more to defend herself than to attach Mozenrath. "And you're a moralless woman!" Moze bellowed Nefret's borrowed face twisted in agony and anger and she rented her clothing. "I am not a woman to be despised!" Nef/Moze hollered out. Moze/Nef felt his heart tear but he couldn't stop his tongue, not where Nefret was concerned, and never could. "Lire!" came the low bellowing voice. Aladdin rushed from the door when the voices stopped suddenly and the heavy sound of feet burst forth. The doors slammed open, the form of Mozenrath stomping out and down the hall. Slowly Aladdin bit his lip and walked quietly through Nefret's room, to her form, huddled on the bed, back to him, heaving deep breathes. Moze/Nef closed his eyes when someone once again sat on the bed and placed a hand on his side, for he thought Nefret had come to her senses quickly and come back to make peace. "I heard he fight Nefret." Came Aladdin's voice. Terror stuck Mozenrath senseless as he realized who sat beside him. "Are you okay?" the hero questioned softly and reached to stroke her cheek. Chapter 328 (by Chroias) Aladdin touched Nefret's cheek gently and felt her tense under his scrutiny. "Why do you put up with him like that?" he questioned softly. "I can't possibly see how, after all you've done for him, he can treat you in such a way!" The hero's voice was a combination of anger and protective instinct. But his touch aroused something far more then protective from Nefret's body. "Go away Aladdin..."Moze/Nef said in the softest voice he could manage. Anything above that level might give something away. Mozenrath bunched up the covers around Nefret's body and looked away. Pain clenched his gut and he grimaced. Aladdin saw the pain and sat closer. "Nef...it's okay...I'm here..."he again touched her cheek gently. "I...I'll help you if you want me to...I'll take you away from him..." Something inside Nefret's body reacted to that statement. Perhaps it was his soul housed here, but Nefret's heart still beat strong within the breast. That emotion combined with the pain of menstruation as well as the recent fight with Nefret/Himself overload made something come lose inside. Aladdin slowly stroked the purple hairs as Nefret cried on his shoulder. He knew it wasn't anything he'd done... but it made him nervous all the same. Seeing a woman cry always hurt some part of him inside. "It's alright..."he whispered in a soft voice and felt Nefret quake slightly. "Nefret...please...tell me what he did...if that basterd has hurt you..." Mozenrath suddenly jerked away, a bright red appeared on his cheeks as well as fear and appalling at what he'd just done. "It's the body..." He promised himself and sat back away. "He didn't do anything...we just yelled..." still Moze/Nef kept the voice soft...it might sound like fear...but it was a risk worth taking. "I know.. I heard..." he nodded to the door. "I want to..." he tried to piece the words together correctly. "I wanted to thank you for last time..." he said suddenly. Nefret facial expression didn't change. "Last time..." she whispered. It didn't take a geniuses to figure out what had happened between his slave and the hero. But that didn't make things feel any more comfortable. 'He'd better not think he's going to get a repeat of that time...!' Mozenrath thought with sudden ferocity. Aladdin leaned in gently and noticed it when Nefret leaned away. "I'm sorry..."he stated and Nefret shook her head. "It's not t-t-that.." She said in a hurry, searching for an excuse. "It's just um..umm.." another cramp brought up the perfect solution. "It's my...time of the month." Aladdin backed up and sat on the edge of the bed. "Oh...ohh I'm sorry...I can have some hot cloths brought up if you like.." he offered and Nef shook her head yes. "It'd be nice of you.." she tried a little braver and managed a soft smile at the hero. That was a move Mozenrath would find himself regretting for a long time. Aladdin's lips pressed briefly to Nefret's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nef/Moze paced back and forth in the room. After what she'd done...after she'd taken the time to help HIM out!! After that and he couldn't so much as give her a single word of thanks!!! Not so much as a grumbled reply that sounded like gratitude! Nefret paced over to the mirror and stared at Mozenrath's face. She grimaced and watched the nose twitch into that funny little position. She sneered and Mozenrath's face mimicked it's usual arrogance. Right now she felt like slapping this face... She rubbed her cheek...that hurt like Hell. Sighing she bit down on an apple and munched violently. "If nothing else Moze is at least going to gain a little weight during this thing." she growled out and stuck her tongue out at the reflection. It looked so damn funny...she cracked up laughing and nearly choked on her apple. Feeling a little bit better, she lied down on the bed and listened to the sounds of the night settling in. So far nothing had gone too very wrong. Aladdin still didn't know about the switch...they'd have the mirror soon enough...and all would be well. She heard voices from the room next to hers and froze when she realized it was Aladdin speaking with what sounded like a whispering Mozenrath. She was caught between insane laughter at what Aladdin might try to go for while he still thought it was her, and insane fear at what Mozenrath might do to him for it! There was a sudden silence and her nerves got the better of her, she bustled over to where her body was housing itself. Chapter 329 (by Nefret) Nefret slid though the doors in Mozenrath's body just as Aladdin slipped his lips from Moze/Nef's mouth. Eyes wide the hero snapped his head to see the wirery form of Mozenrath in the doorway looking just as shocked as he did. Moze/Nef had a horrible aghast expression as his splaid fingers slowly rose nearer and nearer to the streetrat's throat. Al was oblivious to the threat nearing as he continued to watch 'Mozenrath'. Nef/Moze cringed as her own fingers made to wrap around Aladdin's throat. In her deepest voice, "Slave!" And with that Nef/Moze rushed forward and grabbed the taunt hand and pulled the girl's body off the bed, dragging her sputtering hell-bent form safely away. The body of Nefret kicked and clawed the air, trying to get back at Aladdin but to no avail as the stronger arms of Mozenrath's body, now posed by Nefret, pulled him across the floor and spun her around on her knees, letting her drop to a heap. Aladdin was unaware his life had just been saved from the straggling caress of the mocha fingers and viewed the whole deal as an out and out act of abuse. "How dare you, you yellow Jackal!" He growled out before charging forward and hitting "Mozenrath" squarely on the jaw. Nef/Moze shot a hand to her mouth and blinked several times with vacant eyes.. That hurt like hell! Slowly she sawed her jaw back and forth like a cow and gave a small smile. It was the sediment that counted, he had made to protect her. or who he though was her. ah it was all so confusing. Moze/Nef stood up with as much dignity as he could scrounge up from the situation. An evil idea was forming in his brain, oh big surprise. Sure he had just had a fight with Nefret and he should be doing his best to get back on her good side.. That would be the normal train of though of a sane person. Mozenrath however just couldn't help himself when it came to his minion. As it was her job to taunt him so it was his to hinder her in anyway possible. If you didn't know these two you'd think they were mortal enemies. Ah, he'd make it right later, he always did. "Nefret" suddenly fended weak feminity and raced to cling to Aladdin's arm. "I wont stand more of your abuse Mozenrath!" Moze/Nef hissed in a low voice, shooting a smart-ass smile to the body of Mozenrath. "I wont let you put your hands on my again! You wont have me as your punching bag. Oh Hathor make the abuse stop." His small pleading voice was over done and too melodramatic to be believed by anyone but the slightly naive hero. Aladdin exerted all the characterizes of an over protective male, pushing Nefret's body behind his own and growling deeply at the form of Mozenrath. "You wont hurt her again!" He growled and pulled back a clenched fist. Nef/Moze sputtered in expiration, looking from her own body, smiling and tinkering her fingers at her from behind the bulky body of Aladdin, and then to the hero himself. Nef/Moze managed to lower her voice again and protest. "Now hold on one moment! There's no need.' The fist landed again in her face. Nef/Moze mulled and backed up, holding her cheek. "Come one.." Another swing was narrowly missed. "If you'll just listen." Nef/Moze cut off as she ducked quickly, Mozenrath's body protesting to the sudden leaps and bounds she was making, damn it she was going to start in on a stretching program! "She lies!" Nef/Moze growled out and received a smarting blow. "Owwww!" Escaped Nefret's high pinched cry. Aladdin seemed caught off guard at the high voice. Nef/Moze's eyes shifted for a moment, had she blown her cover.. not yet. Sniffing and clearing her throat like a man Nefret stood up straight and dusted off her shirtfront with all the pompous attitude of her master. In a deep voice, "Now now, this isn't boding very well as to our upcoming bargaining conferences. I suggest we all just retire to our rooms and meet in the morning, fresh and new." Aladdin huffed but relented. "Alright." He opined a finger inches from Mozenrath's nose. "We'll meet in the morning to bargain." And with that he turned around to march heavily to the door, stopping to caress 'Nefret's shoulder. Nef/Moze followed him out, giving Moze/Nef a look of death and mouthing to him, "You are in sooo much trouble you don't even KNOW!" And then the two "men" were gone and Moze in was left alone in the room and alone in Nefret's body. With a growl he fluffed a pillow to near disrepair and whipped off his mouth with a blah. 'Aladdin and Nefret.. Really.' He thought with a sneer. He'd thought it bad enough when that riffraff Don had used his property, now the hero was stealing away his belongings.. It was robbery I tells ya robbery! Chapter 330 (by Chroias) Moze/Nef tossed and turned on the bed, the cramps still seeing his stomach. Once he remembered what Nefret had done he removed the top again and managed to settle the hot cloth on Nefret's back. The soul confused thing let out a low sigh. It felt good. Wonderful in fact Only down side was that it made him drowsy. Too keep awake, Mozenrath continued brooding over the Aladdin/Nefret issue. Truthfully, he wouldn't have minded so much...if it hadn't lead to that kiss!! Never in his entire life had he felt so...so...humiliated. And the sudden desirer to strip the street rat of all his flesh was amazing. The cloth turned cold and he replaced it with a new one, haveing to shift the breasts slightly and find a new position. He didn't like having to touch Nefret's body,but the fact was that daily necessities had to be taken care of. Everything from food and drink to bathing. The small comfort was that Nefret was having to do the same in his body. Somehow that was no comfort. ~~~~~~~~~~ Nef/Moze rearranged the flap of clothing with the gold spirals on it and grimaced. Damn natural body functions! She huffed and flopped down on the bed, rubbing her jaw. She swore up and down to mutilate Mozenrath once he was back in his own body! And she'd meant every damn word she'd said to him! Of all the impertinence! Acting as though she had no right to her own body! By Hathor she WAS a Priestess of the Goddess of Pleasure!! To avoid the affection of her body was damned near a sin! And it was NOT like she went out and bedded every man on the streets! Three lovers... She was nineteen now and only three real lovers had gotten the joy of becoming a bedmate to her. Lucas, Don, and Aladdin. That did NOT make her a moraless woman. And of all the PEOPLE to talk about being without morals! She looked at Mozenrath's face in the mirror and stuck her tongue out at it. It felt good to be able to do that too his face...very very good. And who is he to call me a slave anyhow? What does he know about slavery? When has he ever had to submit? A flash of gold in the outfit caught her eyes and she stared at it for a while, watching the light patterns swirl around and around. The effect was hypnotic. Soothing even... One of the few things a person hopes never to experience in their life the act of being forced into contact with another. And even worse, to relive that moment through their own dreams. Though a dream stays with a soul for all eternity, the body is the part that remembers the feelings it had experienced throughout it's life. And no feeling is worse then pain. No memory is worse then that of someone you hate. Nefret recognized Destane's horrid face the moment she saw it. She shot awake in the bed, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead and slicking back the lush black hair. She hadn't had a full dream, just the kind where bits and pieces come together. Enough to wake a person. Suddenly the room felt so incredible cold, despite the temperature of this body. Mozenrath's face looked wretched in the mirror, the eyes wide and pupils small, the little twists at the corner of his mouth opened and humiliation shown on his cheeks. She'd never seen him after a dream had occurred, and Chroias had never described the moments to her. He looks so terrified... A small, delicate hand landed on the shoulder. She didn't even have to turn to recognize her own fingers. "I came in to talk to you..." Mozenrath's voice said softly. "I know what I look like when I dream about that..." There was a note in the voice she'd never heard before...maybe...tenderness? It was impossible to tell. "So what...you decided to let me dream it out? Know how it feels?" she snapped. Moze/Nef scowled, makeing the present face looked unattractive. "For your information I woke you up!" she spun on her heel, fists clenched and began to walk out the door. "Wait!" Moze/Nef turned and saw his own face. Flushed with color, sweating and terrified. How many times had Chroias had to hold him tightly and kiss him? How many times had he just barely held back tears in her presence? No one, no matter who the person...deserved that. Nefret had the good fortune of copulation with men she appreciated and who returned the appreciation. Never had her pride been threatened with something had bending as force. He hated her for that. And he envied her for it. "What?" He asked, not sure of how to place his tone. Chapter 331 (by Nefret) Nef/Moze gave a deep sigh, Turing from him and ruffling the black hair upon her borrowed head. "Just wait... Don't leave me alone again." Nef closed her eyes and grimaced, she shouldn't have said that. Never EVER let them know when your weak, it was a policy that had served her well. Moze/Nef nodded, slipping into a chair. "Alright." And no more did he say. Nef/Moze made a small pacing circle before taking a chair of her own, sinking into the cushion across from him, eyes closed and sighing tiredly. There was a long moment of silence before Nef/Moze put her head in her hands and gave a musing smile to her own body. "Well here we are sorcerer. On the other side of the fence, through the looking glass, in each others place." She pulled her eyes away and shook her head. "I know you now, yet I don't. I've seen your scares, yet I don't feel them. I've looked though your eyes, yet I cant see from your point of view. We should understand each other now, yet we do not. And the one question I hoped to answer is still a mystery, why do we treat each other as we do?" Moze/Nef looked serious now and tilted his head. "So it has been and so it will ever be." Moze did his best to mimic her voice, then retuned to his own. "That is what you Egyptian say is it not? It is your nature to dislike change. Ah Egypt, where everything stays the same forever to eternity. Perhaps I have a bit of Egyptian blood in me also." Nef/Moze smiled and stood up, slowly padding to the window. "All evil comes out of Egypt." Her voice barely a breath. Mozenrath stared at her for moment, not understanding. "I also dreamed." He finally said. "Oh? And what did you see from my minds eye?" Nef/Moze asked without turning from the window. "Bits and scraps pulled from the fibers of your body. I saw a red river, I saw alabaster and gold ablaze in heat vapors, I smelled alcohol, I saw the ebony face of a Nubian woman and felt terrified.. That I might be her." Mozenrath's voice fell off in confusion. Nef/Moze nodded, they were whispers of her own dreams. The smell of alcohol invading the evening air of her home. The prospect of ebony.. Mozenrath's voice came again. "What did you see?" "Flashes of emotion. A face.." And there she was at a loss for it was all so blurred together. Moze/Nef made a rough groan and ran a hand through the purple locks, ah well he remembered. Slowly he let his hand fall down. "You have a ridge scar on the back of your skull." He stated simply. Nef/moze nodded. "I needed to be 'sedated' when Uncle donated me to the temple." She said calmly. Moze raised a head to look at the back of hers, but said nothing. "You have faded scares on your back." she continued. "Whip." Moze said gravely. Nef nodded and swallowed something forming in her throat. Moze/Nef rose from his chair and walked to where his own body stood. Nef/Moze shot out a hand, pushing back at his shoulders. "At an arms length?" Moze/Nef questioned with a smirk. Nefret dropped her hand and Moze took a single step forward. Another round of silence as they both looked out the window. "We need to get that mirror soon." Nef finally said. "So we can go back to normal." Moze/Nef only half questioned. "So it has been so it will ever be." Nef/Moze nodded at the sad truth. "Foolish Egyptian." Moze/Nef laughed deeply, breaking the blue funk between them. "Twiggy." Nef/Moze assed off. Then they both fell from the window, chasing each other with excited crying insults and deadly pillows in hand. Down in the archives Aladdin pulled a heavy cloth off a mirror, letting the dust fly. With a little smile he looked in the reflection. "I'd give it to you Nef for nothing if you'd only take up my offer." Al said in a small voice, half to himself but almost thinking she would hear it. Chapter 332 (by Chroias) The dawn finally came. And a more unusual sight for it's vibrant lights could not have been asked for. Mozenrath's body lay nestled against that of Nefret's. Anyone with stupidity present in their brains might have assumed the two were involved somehow. But that could not have been the case. Both subjects were fully clothed without so much of a fiber out of place. One was on top of the sheets with the other underneath them. You could not have painted a more innocent picture of the two. Moze/Nef's arm was wrapped slightly around his own body, more of a comforting pose then anything else. Both looking as though they'd had the most comfortable sleep in their lives. Moze/Nef was the first to open his dusky hazel eyes. With no small amount of shock he saw his own face sleeping peacefully and discovered a nearly insane though. We didn't....! It didn't take more then a moment to wipe that thought away. Sighing, he shook his body awake. Nef/Moze came around with a yawn and a muffled growl. "Is it morning already?" she hummed and saw where she'd fallen asleep. "Oh....!" she backed away, a look of shock momentarily present. "Nothing happened." Moze/Nef promised. "You asked not to be left alone. We slept together, but only in the most literal sense of the word." he assured her. Nefret looked doubtful. "Are you SURE nothing happened...?" "Well you did try to cop a feel off me around midnight ...kidding!!!" he yelled out as a look of pure terror crossed his own features. "Nothing...we were both dead to the world...I promise..."he stood and washed Nefret's face free of overnight oils. "There's something I've been meaning to mention to you..." he turned around. "The first night this happened...I...I was looking through your closet for clothing..." Nef/Moze blanched. "I swear that underwear was a gift!" Moze/Nef laughed ,a clear laugh, one Nefret's wasn't used to hearing. "No...no not that...I...I found your mothers diary." The expression there was hard to read. "You...you had no right to look in it..."a low whispered comment. "I didn't read it all...just took a glance." He promised and could see his eyes scrunch at the corners, like...like she was about to cry. "And I put it back where it was..." Something inside Nefret was seizing up. A very, very uncomfortable feeling. Her mother was a subject she had never mentioned before...and she certainly wasn't about to bring up the topic now. Not with him... "Well be late, I'm sure the new Sultan will want us to join him for breakfast." she whispered and immediately began to act as Mozenrath would, storming from the door. Mozenrath felt a deep burning somewhere inside his new body. Not a painful sort, just...worry. He tried to shove it away, but it remained, nagging inside somewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jasmine was cooing softly at her son as the guests entered. This being the first chance she'd actually had, Nef/Moze took a moment, looking over the baby, her heart swelling up. 'Must...keep...control...must...not SQUEEL!' It must have taken every last bit of control she had, but she kept dignity present. Moze/Nef on the other hand, felt the results in his body push up in Nef's and promptly squealed at the sight of the child. The mocha cheeks turned bright red but continued making smiles at the baby. There was something absolutely IMPOSSIBLE about controlling a female body when a baby was involved. The look on Jasmine's face was a somewhat confusing one. She was obviously being polite to a respected guest, but..."I know about you and Aladdin..."she whispered quietly. Chapter 334 (by Nefret) Moze/Nef was still Mozenrath in essence and did not let his expression change. Instead he petted back the babies black hair with mocha fingers and said simply. "I suppose you would." Jasmine was up off for an answer to that one and simply bundled her baby closer, inching him away from the brown fingers. "I have not yet found a way to feel for you Nefret." Moze/Nef drew upon his knowledge of his minions more pious side. Sounding a bit like Nefret given a cold. "Let your Ka be appeased, that at the moment of my birth the Seven Hathors gathered around my cradle and spun a tale of what fates I may fall upon. To Anubis I tell what path I have chosen and my heart will be heavier upon the scale for it. You shall forgive me as I shall forgive myself or I will give myself to the Great Devourer and throw myself into oblivion and be nothing, for far better be it to be nothing than to turn a great door upon my eyeball." at this he cast the plum head up and made the holy sign of Amoon. This had its desired effect. Jasmine was completely thrown off. She blinked several times at the gobbly gook. She understood not a word of it but tried to cover her ignorance by clumsily making the configured sign back and looking off into space, trying to understand what had just been said. The form of Nefret sat down two chairs down from the head of the table on the left. Mozenrath from took the seat at the immediate left of the head. Nef/Moze cast a look to the dumfounded queen and leaned in to whisper in the her own ear, "Impressive, ever thought of becoming a priest?" The painted lips of Nefret gave a laughing smile. "Not a chance in hell." He was cut off as Aladdin entered and scooted back his chair, sitting heavily, more kingly than anyone had ever seen him before. "Are we prepared to deal?" He asked the sorcerer. 'Mozenrath' sat back and nodded. "We were only waiting on you, street rat." Boy, Nef was getting better and better at this pretence, it was almost scary. Aladdin nodded once and leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the table. "I have the object you ask after but I have a set of demands." With that he looked down and cleared his throat. "One, You shall not try to conquer the lands held between Kush and India. Two, one tenth of your Mumluk army is to be disbanded. Three, you will pay a fee of 30 pounds gold to help the debt you dealt this city. Four..:" The body of Nefret was shaking in anger; finally Moze/Nef forgot her act and stood up pointing a finger. "That's ridiculous!" Everyone looked at 'Nefret' cockeyed. Realizing his mistake Moze/Nef coughed a few times and returned to the higher voice. "I mean it has to be more then 30 pounds debt." And 'she' sheepishly sat back down and Al gave a gentle smile and motioned for her not to worry. "Four." He contained. "Hence forth trade routes will be allowed to pass through the Land of the Black Sand. And finally Five," Aladdin stopped to smile at the face of Nefret. "Once a year your minion will be given a months vacation where she may travel uninhibited at her own will." The body of Mozenrath sat back in its chair and opened it's mouth. "Well that sounds.." The pale mouth suddenly clasp shut in apparent pain. Under the table Nef/moze rubbed her now sore leg. "What I mean is I'll have to deliberate." And so they all stood at the same time, nodded to each other and left, the feet of Nefret hitting the floor a bit to harsh as grumbles escaped her mouth. From there the bodies of Mozenrath and Nefret wondered to the garden. In the relative safety of the midway of a shrub maze Moze/Nef let out a curse and slashed a hand though the greenery. "Who does the street rat think he is!" He hissed and crossed his arms. Nef/Moze strolled along in thought. "All in all he didn't ask for much. One tenth of the mumluck army is nothing! You can make 30 pounds of gold in a night. Trade routes though the land are an annoyance." "No lands from Kush to India!" Moze/Nef hollered. "You conveniently left that one out! That is unacceptable, perhaps no lands between the Atlantic and Kush, but not land east of that." "That's why it's called negotiation." Nef/Moze remained. "Agree to the disbandment, the fee of gold, set trade routes to the extreme north of our land and then bargen to loosen up on the land restriction." Moze/Nef slowed and looked up at his own body, blinked once and hummed. Perhaps it was now because she had the body of a male, or maybe it was the fact that they had let down their defenses last night, but Nefret no longer seemed like the illogical brash imp of a girl he thought he'd known. The veil he's placed on her he's peeked under, and beneath it she was an educated woman from a higher variety of life he's placed her in. He shook his head. "Yes, that was my thought exactly." He lied. "You know me to well." Moze cleared his throat and walked ahead of her, direction the turns they made in the maze, knowing already how to get to its center. "Sadly so." Nef/Moze fell in behind him, hoping he knew where they were going because one shrub wall looked the same as the next to her. "Wonder what Chroias is up to." Nef/Moze sighed to herself. "Knowing dear Roias, kicking major tail." Moze/Nef chuckled, brining a whimsical smile to the lips of Nef/Moze. "Ah. we aren't going to tell her about any of this. are we?" Moze/Nef gave a worried look to his own body. Nef/Moze seemed appalled. "Lie!? To my best friend? Never! If she happens to ask if we accidentally switched bodies, went in Agrabah and fell asleep together I'll tell her the truth. Otherwise I wont bring it up." The body of Moze breezed of with a cool shrug. "I say the chances of that question coming up are a trillion to one. Wouldn't you say so?" Moze/Nef chuckled. "We need to get you out of that body, your starting to THINK like me." "Noooo!" Nef/Moze gave a melodramatic yell and was quickly batted on the head by her own hand, now in the control of another. "Hey it's not so bad to think like me, it gets you ahead in a cruel world."  
  
"No, It's just bad to dream like you." That shouldn't have made it past her train of thought but it did. There was silence for a moment as they walked deeper and deeper in to the maze. Finally Moze opened his borrowed lips. "I didn't dream last night." Moze/Nef said simply as they came to the center of the maze, a pool teaming with giant eastern fish. "At dinner we'll continue negotiations, you'll have to tell me what you want said." Nef/Moze reminded. "I have yet to think on it. And don't think I've forgotten about that last demand. I know what he's doing. He's setting it up for you to disappear on me!" "Awww, I'd never run away!" Nef/Moze made her eyes big and shiny, than a broad grin crossed her face, crinkling her eyes. "Because I know if I did you'd hunt me down like a dog and kill me painfully." "Hell yes!" Mozenrath laughed and started to lead the way back out of the maze. Chapter 335 (by Chroias) Nef/Moze humphed as Moze/Nef pushed her into the room. "I don't like it...not one single bit!" she argued as he forced her to sit on the bed. They'd discussed what she was to say and what he'd begin negotiations with. Of course settling for the first offer would have been ridicules. They needed that mirror desperately, but to appear as though they needed it THAT desperately would be beyond foolish. So Mozenrath's forever scheming mind had brought up a solution. One that Nefret was not at all pleased about. "We haven't much option Nefret. I'm getting so damn tired of swinging my hips every minuet of the day! And..." he grabbed a pastry from the basket in the room and munched. "And I'm sure you've gained five pounds since we've switched." "But the way you said it! It makes me sound...." she grimaced. "It makes me sound like a lady of the evening!" she pouted and flung herself on the bed. Truly what he'd said had been cruel. Part of what he'd insisted they ask for was...financial compensation for Aladdin's night with Mozenrath's minion. "You're more of a whore then I am Mozenrath!" she spat out at him. The look on Nefret's pleasant face mimicked Mozenrath's perfectly. "And how exactly am I to be defined as a whore?" Rage was building up inside. "I have Chroias and am quite content with her thank you very much!" he spat out. Before she could stop herself, Nefret spat out. "Betcha thats not Distane's point of view!" Dead silence fell over them both. Moze/Nef's eyes grew wide and a stunned gasp of breath was the only interruption. Those pretty lips were opened wide and the bottom one trembled slightly, Nefret could see the welling of tears behind her sweet brown eyes and could tell she'd taken the fight to far. "Moze...Moze it's this body...I can't help it...I'm getting all these feelings off of you and ..." She didn't stop him from smacking his own face. She rubbed Mozenrath's cheek as she saw her body disappear from the room, racking with controlled sobs. 'You absolute idiot!' She screamed inside her mind. 'By Hathor you tactless woman you KNOW how it hurts him!' But it was more then just that...it was the sudden realization of how deep her words were taken. Distane was the one part of Mozenrath' life where he'd been completely vulnerable. Where he'd shut his mouth and taken it quite literally lying down. Something like that could break a person's spirit eternally. Yet he'd persevered...but... Nefret allowed herself to feel what Mozenrath's body knew. He thinks of himself like that...he feels like he should have run away or tried to stop sooner....Hathor have mercy he actually thinks of himself as a whore!' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'I will NOT let those words effect me! I will not!' Moze/Nef disappeared into her room and tried to control the chocked crying inside. 'It's being in this DAMNDABLE female body!! Hormones and cramps and all this estrogen....'Another sob tore out and Mozenrath felt like throwing himself off a balcony. He knew it was a foolish thing...if there was one thing Distane taught him, it was that crying was utterly useless... He forced Nefret's body to stand straight and started pushing the tears away. He would not cry!! No way possible! As he'd been taught to do so many years ago, Mozenrath let the wall begin to build itself around him. No emotion, nothing allowed to interfere with him in any way. He felt a sort of coldness in his chest somewhere and continued, letting it drip down Nefret's body. No tears...never any tears. 'Oh Allah how much I wish Chroias was here...' No!! None of that....that was weakness too! He was a fool for dwelling on something this stupid for so long! It happened, he couldn't change the past, whats done is done. And oh how it still hurt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aladdin and Jasmine spoke to one another in soft words. It was a difficult thing, true love... "I know about it Aladdin...and I know you still love me...it's just." Aladdin held Jasmine close. The baby boy lay asleep in his cradle, comforted by blankets and protected by his mother and father. "I won't. If you tell me to stop...if you tell me you don't want me to...then I won't..." Jasmine shook her head. "I couldn't stop you from it love. She's a good woman...a well respected one among her own people. It is your right as Sultan to have more then one woman..."she tried her best to be diplomatic about the whole thing. "My only question is this...can you handle who she belongs to? She IS Mozenrath's ...we've offered her escape before...and she hasn't taken it. Even when she believed him dead she grieved for him..." "Your suggesting that...that I may not be her only partner?" The very though sent shivers up the hero's spine. When they'd first met, Jasmine had asked Nefret if the relationship of slave to master was of a bed partner nature and the priestess had laughed at the idea. But then again...that had been nearly three years ago...and Nefret was an attractive woman. "But Chroias would never allow such a thing. I don't know her very well...but she doesn't seem the type to allow Mozenrath another to love." "I know...but appearances can be deceiving, Aladdin. Mozenrath...for all we have known him as...still signed the treaty with Agrabah, still protected his family and his children, still was willing to give his life for Nefret and Chroias..." Jasmine hadn't yet decided on the point she was trying to make. Perhaps she was merely attempting to bring a bit of reality to the situation. "She belongs to Mozenrath...and if he does agree to the month off...you know he'll figure it out soon enough as to the nature of your relationship being more then friendly." Aladdin rubbed his temple. So many complications. "No one ever said love was easy..."he smiled and kisses Jasmine passionately. "We know that better then anyone I love you Jasmine..."he promised before she could speak. "Nothing could stop that...not in a million years..." "But is it so wrong to love another?" she smiled and accepted his embrace of her. Chapter 336 (by Nefret) Mozenrath sat in a window seat overlooking a little hidden courtyard. His borrowed smooth mocha face was still and emotionless. Perhaps his essence was finally permeating into the cells of Nefret's body, changing its look. All emotion had been pulled deep inside and held in a little box. What remained was a strictly rational bare bones skeleton of a person. That was Mozenrath's best way of coping, the only one he knew, to be distant and numb. Nefret had no right to say what she said. He still couldn't believe the words had passed her lips. Allah forgive him, the past few days he'd let his feelings of her change, even if he didn't show it. Being in her place brought them closer together no matter if they wanted that imminence or not. In just the last few days he'd allowed. Allah forbid, emotions for her to show. Look what it had brought! Look what happened when the wall came down! Arrow whizzed over the lowered defense, striking him in the heart. And the archer? The one that had beguiled him into opening up! The little innocent eyed witch. Emotion was weakness, and weakness was naturally pounced upon by others. Well no more would he open the case of ice around his heart for the claws of the cat! No more forever! Mozenrath pulled his knees into his chest and set his head down upon them. He only wished now to be back in his own body, back in his comfortable home, to have Chroias there, Nefret back in her place, things as they should be. Where he could shut out his feelings again and be content to live in his self sustaining darkness, a forced forgetfulness. From out the window Mozenrath watched his own body swaying on the back of a willowy horse. "Bah!" Mozenrath snorted and sprung up, waving an arm away. "Stop being such a child Mozenrath!" He ordered himself. "You must be strong. You ARE strong. Be a man." An ironic smile crossed his lips as he caught a glimpse of his new body in the mirror. Suddenly he was back to normal, cool, calculating, cunning. And heart behind an impenetrable fortress. No respectable Egyptian would be seen on horseback. Still, Nefret secretly liked to ride though it was inconsistent with her dignity to admit it. A lot of things were inconstant with her dignity to admit. Oh what had she done? Why? Why did she say that, why did he say that? She couldn't answer for him, but she. she held a certain intuitive want inside her to keep him away and even hurt him because she hated her fate with him.. She did not really hate him as a person, only what he represented. Somehow to accept him was to accept her slavery, and that was inconstant with her dignity, and it scared her senseless. It was basic instinct, he held it too. But sometimes they slip.. Mozenrath had said, "I found your mothers diary." Nef/Moze looked up suddenly, eyes wide, memories overcame her. *** "Neffie? Come here child." A strong smooth voice called. A child's laugh rang out as a young girl flew to his side, plunking down at his feet to look up wide-eyed with loving admiration. "I want you to have this. I think your old enough to read it now." The man smiled softly and handed the child a small book. "Pappa?" "Just read." And the child read for some time. ".. I shall not live much longer...but I shall give her a name, Nefret, because she is beautiful. And the greater name of Apet. Let no man hear this name so they cannot manipulate her with sorcery, but so that the gods know her, may she live forever to eternity. Now the gods come to claim their daughter Merit." "But I don't understand father. Why wasn't mother afraid when she knew she was going to die?" The young girl cocked her head and wiped a runny nose on her arm. "Why fear that which is to be. It will happen and you will only be the more miserable for it." "But you must fight!" Little Nefret had protested. The man sighed and gathered her up. "Let me tell you a story daughter. There was once a prince born who the seven Hathors said would die by either the snake the crocodile or the dog. The parents were horrified and ordered him to raised in a locked fortress. But one day the boy saw a dog and wanted one, being a prince his command was followed. Then one day he became bored of seclusion and asked why he was isolated, when told of his fate he laughed and said 'so it has been said so it will be no matter where I am.' And so the prince left the fortress and wandered the world with his dog." "What a fool! I don't understand it at all!" "Someday you will little daughter." **** Nef/Moze shook her head again and looked up, into the sunlit landscape. A small smile had come to her face. "I understand now." The door to Moze/Nef's room creaked open. Moze/Nef didn't bother to look back to see who it was. If it was Aladdin, Nefret, a maid, they could all go to hell for all he cared. "It is time to meet Aladdin again." Came Nefret's voice. Mozenrath flinched and turned further from her. "Will you walk with me, Brother?" She said a bit on the soft side. Something inside that new soft body almost slipped, letting the emotion flood, but it was quickly pushed into place and Mozenrath managed to say emotionless while he joined her in the hallway. "Are you ready to accept my terms?" Aladdin asked as he sat down and took out a contract, Jasmine preparing the pen and ink. "We certainly are not." 'Mozenrath' scoffed. Well done with the acting Nefret! "The political arena is just like the market place Al, not to bargain is quite rude!" A smart smile graced the pale lips of Mozenrath as Aladdin sighed and sat back, waiting. "One 12th of the army will be disbanded, that's about ohhh.. 100 mumluks. Trade routes will be limited to those carrying spices, silks, and other high value items. They will also pass though customs at the Citadel. Since by our treaty I cant try to conquer agrabah anyways, how 'bout we set the restrictions to no lands from Gaza in the Sinai up the coast to Smyrna in Syria? I believe you have some friends in thought that coastline." Aladdin rubbed his chin and hummed. It was a small strip of land, but it was true they had a few alliances there he could protect. "Allow all caravans no matter what the cargo and it's a deal." "Ah but there is one more thing to be settled street rat." 'Mozenrath' raised a hand. Inside Nef/Moze cringed but she was a good actor. "You claim I owe 30 pounds gold for damage to the city." Aladdin looked to Jasmine and she nodded. "I'm willing to drop the cost down to 20 pounds." "Ahh good. You see, I figure you owe me at least. 50 pounds for the services you procured from my minion." 'Mozenrath' quipped. The room fell silent and Aladdin turned beet read. The hero sat stunned, Mozenrath knew. and he was asking for money? The hero's gaze fell on Nefret. The girl sat quietly, almost unaffected until she caught the glance, she too seemed embarrassed. Funny, when Aladdin looked at him like that Mozenrath felt so. odd. Even if it wasn't him that did the deed, it hurt almost personally when Aladdin looked at that way, that questioning way. "p.pay?" Aladdin spit out, his face plunging to a new shade of red as he said the words. "You.. knew?" Nef/Moze felt horrible, but the act was going on to far for her to give it up, no matter how much it hurt. "Of course I knew!" a sneer. "You thought you could be so smart and secretive with my property? You betray yourself Aladdin." Al scratched his head as Jasmine looked to Nefret, completely horrified. Pay? The girl caught sight of the look and slumped down in her seat. By Allah! Mozenrath wished people would stop giving him those looks! It triggered something, some sort of reflex Nefret had. shame.. oh yes shame. He remembered that feeling. "Well I'm willing to take out the 20 pounds I owe you out and you may pay me 30 pounds of gold. I'd say that's fair. Wouldn't you?" Nef/Moze breezed.  
  
Aladdin sputtered for a moment, mortified, confused, and in deep painful wonderment. "I'll pay" He spat out the word with disgust. "But Nefret still gets off a month every year." From under the table Moze/Nef tapped Nef/Moze on the knee twice. It was a loss on her part, but Nefret just wanted to get this over with. "Two weeks." She sighed in a fixed deep voice. Al sighed also and wrote the terms down. The papers were signed and the mirror promised within 24 hours. Moze/Nef grinned in relief as he closed the door after Nef/Moze entered. "Well, we won." "Won." Nef/Moze repeated, her voice faulty. Moze/Nef lowered his eyebrows as he watched her shoulders clench up, arms crossing as if cold. "If you ever make me out as a whore again Mozenrath I will not live a day past it." And then she was gone into her own room, the door slamming, followed by agonized sobs. Chapter 337 (by Chroias) Nef/Moze signed the name of Mozenrath on the contract. It was difficult, since even with Mozenrath's hands her signature remained somewhat feminine. But she pulled it off. Simply giving the letters a little more loop to them and straightening out where there would usually be curves. Being the daughter of a scribe had advantages. She slid the document across to the hero and watched for a reaction. To her relief he mealy rolled it up and gave it an official seal. "Then these proceedings are closed?" Aladdin nodded. "Yes...now it's time for me to keep my part of the bargin." He brought out a rather large object wrapped in white leather. He seemed to take forever unwrapping it but soon enough the reflected light of a mirror shone onto Mozenrath's pale face. Nef/Moze froze as she felt a quick kick under the table. Her own sweet mocha face was showing in the reflection. Moze/Nef gave another kick and she angrily kicked back as if to say 'I know!' The shorter body made a small ow sound and robbed its ankle. "Well...if we are through here..." she trailed off and stood to take the mirror. Aladdin pulled back ever so slight. "One more thing...I wish to speak with Nefret...alone..." Nefret felt another forceful kick under the table "We do not have time for even the quickest of flings street rat..." Aladdin felt his lips pull back in an angry grimace. "No. I want to speak with her. Just talking." he put emphasis on the word talk and Nef/Moze finally sighed. "Very well..."she said past her counterparts violent shaking no of the hands. "But be quick about it...no doubt your used to hastily finishing things." Nef winced inside and saw Aladdin's face turn beet red. She hated humiliating him like this...she positively loathed it. But she had little choice. Mozenrath had a look of blind fear on his face as he stood to follow Aladdin, glancing back at Nefret as though she might save him. Nefret merely shrugged and sat down, trying to look important as she sipped the expensive wine. Let the sorcerer suffer for a few minuets. After what he'd put her through he deserved it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aladdin waited till they'd turned a corner before taking Nefret's curvaceous body in his arms and pulling her to sit on a bench. "Nefret..."he whispered softly and felt her cheek. Mozenrath jerked out of reach immediately. "What is it..."she said shortly.  
  
"Oh Allah I know that had to humiliate you...we never should have....pressed attentions towards one another." He admitted. "How long has he know? " "The entire time." That was a lie! Of course Mozenrath wouldn't be able to face himself if he didn't pump up his ego just a bit. "He knew soon after I got home." "Has he made life difficult for you because of it?" "No more so than usual...oh.." Moze/Nef caught on. "No...he's not beaten me if that's what you mean. I don't think he has any plans to either." Mozenrath could say that without committing sin. He'd never been one for beating his mischievous minion, and he had no plans to start just for this little indiscretion. It was tempting though. Aladdin relaxed a little. "I wouldn't have lived with myself if I allowed you to go back knowing that he might..."Aladdin pulled her into a hug and seemed troubled when her arms refused to embrace him. "Nefret. Are you alright?" She nodded and clumsily put her arms around his body, squeezing a little. "Just dandy." the mouth promised. Aladdin tilted the chin up to his. "One more question..." Nefret attempted a smile. "Go for it." Aladdin took a deep breath "I asked you one....when we first met, what the nature of your slavery was with Mozenrath." he leaned in closer and Mozenrath stiffened when the lips became seductively close to the painted ones. Immediately his body reacted, lips opening partially to accept the kiss while only the back of his mind seemed to scream out at him. "What I wanted to know is...is has the nature of the relationship changed." Mozenrath snapped the partially open mouth shut., thankful that those words had snapped sense into him. "Your asking....your asking if I've..."searching for the right words, she put a hand to her mouth. "Your asking if I've bedded down with Mozenrath?" Aladdin nodded and brought her closer to him again. It was so tempting to allow the street rat to believe that he'd had an intimate relationship with his minion. Not only would it make Mozenrath's pride feel better, but it would quite conceivably keep Aladdin from ever touching his possession again. "Why do you need to know?" he dodged the question like a child caught in the cookie jar. After all, it wouldn't have been uncommon. Masters frequently took advantage of a woman's slavery to them. Mozenrath just...had never considered Nefret as an object of....the idea itself seemed somewhat repulsive. "Nefret...listen to me. If you have...if he...well...I know your his slave....and it might not have been optional....I would never blame you." He promised and kisses her cheek. "Please...If that basterd has hurt you...if he forced you to I swear to Allah....!" he tightened his hold on her. "This...this is just something I need to know." Chapter 338 (by Nefret) Oh the possibilities of deceiving Aladdin in such a way were delicious! But if Nefret found out he'd lied about it.. or worse, Chroias. It wasn't worth it. Besides it he did lie he'd ruin a happy part of Nefret's life. She had so little of those parts, largely thanks to him. That thought both made him proud and ashamed at the same time, how strange. Nefret was not an object as largely thought before, she was in fact human even if she was a possession. Moze/Nef sighed heavily in disgust of what he was going to do. tell the truth. Tell the truth, oh how vile! "No, he's never once touched me like that. He couldn't.." Mozenrath blinked several times, he wasn't thinking about his words, they were just coming. Maybe this was how the truth was, you didn't plan what to say, you just said it and it was Allah's honest truth. "He could never force me to just because I'm in service to him because. he has strong feeling against such things." Aladdin brushed back her hair and looked at her face in profile, she looked so deep in thought. Softly he brushed the tips of his finger behind the shell of her ear, setting the hair back. "But he does abuse you." Aladdin flinched at the thought. He wished he could rip her away from that horrible man and take her far away were no one would hurt her again. But it would be kidnapping, she was unwilling to go. Moze/Nef suddenly became evasive and shook her head away. "Not physically!"  
  
Aladdin sighed and got up, deeply hurt that she was refusing to accept his affections. "He can hurt you with the sharp edge of his words just as much as a closed fist. You can take your two weeks as soon as you want. Soon Nef, take it soon." With that he helped her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her back, leading her back down the hall. Moze/Nef walked along silently back to the meeting room. What he had said was the truth; he could not take advantage of any underling of his because he was once a violated subordinate himself. With a man like Mozenrath one might wonder why he wasn't harsher with Nefret. Why he didn't use the stick to keep her in place, why he gave her a soft warm bed in a guest room instead of a cot in the servant's quarter, why he didn't treat her as other slaves at the time were treated. The answer was simple, he'd promised himself not to follow the lead of his mentor. he'd made himself vow never to abuse his little minion just because he was abused himself. He knew full well the cycle of abuse, a child is abused, grows up to abuse one weaker than himself, than that one grows up to abuse another and so on and so on until the wheel of life comes to a halt. He'd stopped the cycle.didn't he? Images flooded his mind, Nefret was so small compared to him when they were in their right bodies, and he'd thought nothing of the way he spoke to her. The constant put downs, criticizing her ever word and action telling her she was worthless, why did he even keep her around? The images in his mind blurred to his own childhood, the words that had flowed from Destatines mouth. They were nearly exact matches.. He was just the same. All this time he'd tried to get away, escape, dominate, become bigger and better than his mentor in order to squash him like an ant, physically and even in the lingering memories in his mind. As if by surpassing him he might wipe Distains existence off the record. Yet he was like him.. Oh Allah! All this running and he finds a piece of that man in himself! He is inescapable!! The body of Nefret suddenly shook like a leaf. This eye was not quiet as used to holding back tears as his own, almost but not quite, and Moze was having a hell of a time fighting against the sea raging behind his eyelids.  
  
Aladdin took notice and pulled her away from the door just as they approached it. "What is it? You don't want to go back?" He questioned, looking to the door and then wiping her cheeks. "You don't have to." He trailed off, hopeful. Moze/Nef pried from his arms, his touch was weakening the damn holding back the rush of tears. Moze/Nef searched for a few seconds for words, the painted lips opening and closing helplessly. Finally he brushed past Aladdin and stomped though the doors, grabbing his own body by the material of the shirt and hauling it out of the chair, much to Jasmines surprise. Moze/Nef was little concerned with their pretence now, they had what they wanted and there was no need to stick around. "I'm ready to go home. lord." Moze/Nef hissed out, his heightened voice stressed now. Nef/Moze pushed him off and dusted her clothes with a hand. "Slaves, you give them an inch they want an mile." Nef/Moze joked with the princess, trying to save the act until she saw the tears sparkling in her own sweet brown eyes. The feeling of friendship pulled her hand up to Moze/Nef's shoulder, as if to say 'it's alright.' Catching the look of the new sultan and his queen Mozenrath threw back his shoulder blade, knocking his own hand away. "Please.. my lord." He hissed out and Nef/Moze nodded. Both took their leave there and then, taking themselves and the mirror out the door and gone. Aladdin falling heavily in the seat beside Jasmine as the bodies left sight. "There just must be something I don't understand." He breathed. No comfort came to Mozenrath until he'd set foot on the cool tile of his own manner. The chilling reminder of home came sharper than normal thanks to the fact that Nefret never wore shoes. Nefret felt relief to have the chance to drop the charade but little other comfort. "Moze. what's wrong?" she stepped towards him, towering over the plum head. Moze/Nef whirled around and grabbed the mirror from her. "I just want to be away." He grumbled. "Away from what?" Nef reached out but was again flicked away. Moze felt the a sudden surge of protective anger. She was getting to close, she could know. know what was going on in his head. He couldn't let anyone know his weakness was coming to the surface. "Away from you small, inferior feminine body, and away from YOU!" He yelled out and unwrapped the mirror with wrath. Nefret lowered her eyes. Just when they made a break through. "As you wish, you're the boss man." The words burned with sarcasm. "I'll be plenty far away soon." 


End file.
